President Biden – Get Elf Bar Off the Shelf

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UK supermarkets recently began stripping Elf Bars — one of the most popular flavored disposable vapor brands — from store shelves after discovering that they contain illegal nicotine levels. Perhaps it’s time for the U.S. federal government to follow suit by stopping this company and similar flavored disposable vapor providers from continuing to fuel the youth smoking epidemic.

Most of the popular disposable flavored vapor products are manufactured in China and target underage Americans, but Elf Bar is worse than most. Its products have been described as “pocket-sized,” “in bright Millennial and Gen Z colors,” and with “childish flavors associated with sweets.” This winter, it even took advantage of our youth’s holiday proclivities by selling an “Elf Bar Advent Calendar” while using TikTok, a favored social media app for kids, to promote sales.

Given companies like Elf Bar’s deliberate targeting of American teens, is there any wonder why youth usage of these products is up considerably? 

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) previously acted against flavored vapes. After an extensive review, the FDA ordered manufacturers to remove their fruit, dessert, and other kid-friendly flavored products from the marketplace, which experts argued were nothing more than a means to introduce and hook young people onto tobacco. However, the FDA never acted against the same fruit and dessert flavored vapor products sold as disposables. As a result, this rule hasn’t mitigated the youth smoking epidemic; it’s only changed the type of nicotine goods America’s children use.  According to the CDC’s National Youth Tobacco Study, youth usage of vapor products is down overall but usage of disposable vapor products is up over 2000% since 2019.

The benefits that will come from taking action on flavored disposable vapes is far from theoretical. The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK), an anti-tobacco non-profit organization, agrees that the FDA’s current policy oversight is “deficient” and has “fueled the sales of flavored disposable e-cigarettes” that are “putting a new generation of kids at risk.”

In the lead up to his February State of the Union address, President Biden stated that ending America’s smoking crisis is an administrative priority. While his commitment to solving a problem that has remained unresolved for decades is commendable, he will need to tackle the FDA’s flavored disposable vape policy oversight to mitigate the chances of another generation from begin picking up the habit.

By making it less appealing for America’s youth to try smoking in the first place, getting flavored disposable vapor products like Elf Bar off of American shelves would represent a significant step in reducing the number of young people who start smoking. It would reduce the number of young people who start smoking and prevent a lifetime of addiction and health problems for countless Americans. 

By eliminating most flavored vapor products, the FDA has already taken a significant step forward in ending this leading gateway to nicotine addiction. President Biden and his administration can take swift action to take flavored disposable vapor products like Elf Bar off of American store shelves and out of the hands of America’s youth. Now, it just needs to finish the job by including disposable flavored vapor products within its administrative guidance. The American people are counting on the Biden administration to do the right thing.

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