The federal government announced today that it will partially ban flavored e-cigarette cartridges like the ones used in Juul vape pens.
The move is meant to slow teen vaping rates, which are at a nationwide high in Colorado.
The ban affects single-use flavored nicotine cartridges, so liquid nicotine that's typically sold in a bottle to refill vaping tanks will be unaffected.
Jodi Radke with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said the change still isn't enough and she's disappointed.
"We see it as a broken promise to both our nation's kids and their families in order to reverse the trends that we're seeing, so it falls woefully short of what we were hoping to see,” Radke said.
But Amanda Wheeler, who owns two vape shops in Colorado Springs, said this ban is a win for small businesses. She’s also the vice president of the Rocky Mountain Smoke-Free Alliance, a vaping industry group.
"We feel that the administration crafted a very thoughtful policy that sought to distinguish between the Big Tobacco products that teens frequently use versus the products made and sold by small business owners across the country,” Wheeler said.
The government will start fining vendors who sell flavored vaping cartridges next month. And as of last week, people have to be 21 to buy tobacco in the U.S.
