The F.D.A.’s Crackdown on Teenage Vaping

To the Editor:

Re “F.D.A., Alarmed by Teenage Use, Targets Vaping” (front page, Sept. 13):

Isn’t it up to the retailers to check IDs to prevent sales to minors, and up to parents to know what their kids are doing, and up to schools and communities to educate kids about the utter pointlessness of nicotine addiction? Why does the manufacturer have to solve this issue?

Andy Grieve
Brooklyn

To the Editor:

I’m 58 years old. I’ve smoked cigarettes since I was 15. Changing over to e-cigarettes, specifically Juul, allowed me to quit smoking. To increase the restrictions on e-cigarettes to prevent their use by minors is understandable. But to make any move to take them off the market would be a public health travesty.

Dwain Reeves
New York

To the Editor:

I am a family physician specializing in adolescent health. Just this week, while taking a history from a 19-year-old young man, I asked him if he smoked cigarettes. The answer was no. I then asked him if he vaped. He answered that he used a Juul. When asked how many times a day, he replied that he Juuled continuously, all day.

He was completely unaware of the risks, yet stated he was unwilling to stop, because, predictably, “everyone does it.”

Mark E. Horowitz
New York

To the Editor:

This year San Francisco voters approved a ban on flavored tobacco products, including flavored vaping liquids. These flavored tobacco products are clearly targeting teenagers and kids, not adults.

The proposition passed with nearly 70 percent of the vote, despite money from a big tobacco company, which blanketed the city with ads to fight the ban. Other Bay Area communities, including Oakland, have also banned these products. I think the rest of the country should follow suit.

Eric Chu
San Francisco

To the Editor:

What’s truly shocking is that someone in the Trump administration is actually making an attempt to protect American citizens instead of large predatory corporations. Did Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the Food and Drug Administration commissioner, not receive the Greed Over People memo? Something has gone terribly wrong in Trumpistan’s race to the bottom.

Glen Handler
Verona, N.J.