Flavored e-cigarette ban goes into effect

Flavored electronic cigarette cartridges may be difficult to find now that a nationwide ban has gone into effect, but the access to nicotine through vaping will still continue.

The ban, which went into effect Thursday, only applies to kid-friendly flavorings that come in cartridges or prefilled pods, like mint and fruit flavors, NBC News reported.

Teens and other vaping users will still be able to get menthol and tobacco flavors, The New York Times reported. Other devices are also allowed to remain for sale.

Another loophole -- the banned sweet flavors can stay on the market in devices that cannot be refilled and are made to be thrown away when empty, the Times reported.

And while experts say while students cannot vape at school due to bans set by school districts, they can use nicotine pouches, sucking the marketed "tobacco-free" products, to get the drug from them, NBC News reported.

The ban came after a rash of vaping-related lung diseases in the fall and an increase in teens’ usage of the devices. From 2017 to 2019 vaping had doubled among eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders.

Every U.S. state and the District of Columbia have reported the vaping-related lung disease, or EVALI. Sixty people died from the illness while others still suffer the damage left behind, NBC News reported.

Makers of vape products will have to apply to the Food and Drug Administration to be permitted to sell any vaping item. That deadline is May 12, NBC News reported.

Click here to read the FDA's ban.

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