Comment | Teenage vomiting remains a serious public health crisis.

According to the paper 9.4 percent Middle and high school students — more than 2.5 million youth — reported using e-cigarettes in the month before taking the survey. This includes approximately 14 percent of high school students. This finding may be less than surprising 28 percent High school students reported in 2019, but it’s still too much. E-cigarettes can contain high levels of nicotine, which can affect a teenager’s cognitive development and increase the risk of addiction.

Researchers caution that assessing trends over time is difficult because the epidemic affects data collection. Still, the findings raise serious questions for regulators. Of the youth who reported using e-cigarettes, 30 percent said they smoked these products daily, and approximately 85 percent said they used flavored e-cigarettes, which can come in sweet flavors designed to appeal to youth. By 2020, the F.D.A not allowed Tastes in refillable cardboard-based products, but disposable devices are allowed to continue to be sold Flavors Like “Banana Snow” and “Cool Mint”. Young people’s preferences seem to have changed as a result: single-use devices are now the most popular among teenagers, especially fruit and candy flavors.

For years, policymakers have struggled to find the right balance on electronic cigarettes. Vaping offers a less toxic alternative to regular cigarettes for older smokers looking to kick the habit. At the same time, these products can quickly hook young people due to their convenience, different flavors and nicotine levels.

Recognizing those risks, the FDA has tried to regulate them, with some responses being more successful Others. The centerpiece of the agency’s strategy was the long-awaited ban on semi-flavored products by 2020. However, the last rule includes many Exceptions – Not only disposable devices, but also e-liquids in other forms.

The new survey data should prompt regulators to close those gaps as best they can. They should be strong Execution Existing regulations including financial penalties against bad actors. The agency got some help from Congress this year as lawmakers gave the FDA a new lease Authority To control products that use synthetic nicotine. as if press release This month, the FDA announced that it had sent a warning letter to Puff Bar — today’s most popular e-cigarette brand among young people because it uses synthetic nicotine — and rejected marketing orders for 32 e-cigarettes from another company, Hyde. This is a start, but the agency must quickly review and complete pending e-cigarette applications and redouble its efforts to get illegal products off the shelves and off the street.

Until most flavored products are removed from the market, teenagers will continue to use them. Don’t be fooled by colorful packaging and innocuous names. Protecting children from behavioral risks associated with lifelong health and adolescent fertility is overdue.