The FDA is about to start regulating e-cigarettes the same way it regulates tobacco products

For the first time, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is about to start regulating electronic cigarettes, cigars, hookahs, and pipe tobacco just as it does tobacco products. The Obama administration announced the new rules Thursday, which will take effect in 90 days and prohibit teens under the age of 18 from purchasing e-cigarettes. Those purchasing the products will have to show photo identification, and both free samples and sales of the products in vending machines accessible to minors will no longer be allowed.
The rule change will also require manufacturers whose products hit the market after Feb. 15, 2007, to provide the FDA with a list of product ingredients and get approval from the agency for continued sales. Health warnings will now be required on packaging and in advertisements.
Prior to these regulations, the $3-billion e-cigarette industry faced little to no federal oversight or consumer protections.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Should you add your child to your credit card?
The Explainer You can make them an authorized user on your account in order to help them build credit
-
Cracker Barrel crackup: How the culture wars are upending corporate branding
In the Spotlight Is it 'woke' to leave nostalgia behind?
-
'It's hard to discern what it actually means'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play