Schumer: Trump Vaping Regulations Not Enough

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Monday slammed the Trump administration’s attempt to crack down on vaping, saying that the proposed rules won’t do enough.

Schumer told the New York Daily News on Monday that the proposal includes a significant loophole that allows companies to reintroduce flavors that appeal to kids if the Food and Drug Administration approves it.

“If we are going to tackle the all-out epidemic of youth vaping and the flavor explosion fueling addition and related health issues, the feds cannot go vanilla on a flavor ban,” Schumer said.

 “That means limiting and tightening exemptions so companies can’t escape the intent of the policy and bring us right back to square one one month down the road,” the senator added.

Last March, Schumer called for a ban on certain flavors like “bubble gum” and “fruit punch” that appeal to young people, in an attempt to stem teen vaping. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced last week that the state would implement an emergency ban on many e-cigarette flavors in an effort to stop teenagers from vaping.

“Bubble gum, cookies and cream, gummy bear have one purpose when combined with an e-cig: hook kids,” said Schumer. “Those flavors shouldn’t be on shelves. The federal ban needs to be framed around that premise or it won’t be as effective.”

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