This month marks the 10th anniversary of the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which gave the FDA authority over tobacco products. This landmark law banned most cigarette flavors and deceptive cigarette labels like “light” and “low-tar,” cracked down on marketing and sales to kids, led to strong youth education campaigns and more. But there is much more the FDA must do to fully implement the law and realize its promise to drive down tobacco use and save lives. The FDA should: ◘ Step up its efforts to regulate e-cigarettes and reverse the youth epidemic. It must require that e-cigarettes undergo public health review now – not years from now – and prohibit the flavored products that drive youth use. ◘ Prohibit menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, as it promised to do in November. These products are targeted at kids and people of color, with devastating consequences. ◘ Limit nicotine in cigarettes to minimally or non-addictive levels, as it promised to do in July 2017. The FDA estimates it would save over 8 million lives this century. ◘ Implement large, graphic warnings on cigarette packs and ads, as required by law and a federal court. Over 120 countries have done so, and it’s time for the U.S. to catch up. Together, these actions will save millions of lives and help create the first tobacco-free generation.

It’s not just the United States. Canada is also experiencing a youth e-cigarette epidemic. Youth vaping soared by 74% in 2018 after Canada weakened its e-cigarette regulations and high-nicotine products, including Juul, entered the market. 10% of youth e-cigarette users reported using Juul despite the product being on the market for just one month at the time of the survey.

Philip Morris International claims they want a smoke-free future, yet they're aggressively marketing Marlboro cigarettes across the world from Israel to Indonesia. Anyone surprised?