If you like to puff on flavored cigarettes, enjoy your last pack or two because starting now, you won’t be able to buy them anymore. The FDA has banned candy and fruit flavored cigarettes in United States.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced a ban Tuesday on all flavored tobacco. The Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act approved the ban to coincide with efforts by the FDA to reduce smoking among teenagers in America.
“Almost 90-percent of adult smokers start smoking as teenagers,” said FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg. “These flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular smokers.”
Flavored smokes are known to be appealing to adolescents. Studies show that 17-year-olds are three times as likely to use these cigarettes than smokers over the age of 25.
“FDA’s ban on these cigarettes will break that cycle for more than 3,600 young people who smoke daily,” said Dr. Howard Koh of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The FDA is taking extreme measures to enforce the ban and if companies continue to sell or ship tobacco products, those breaking will suffer the repercussions.
