The ANPRM on product standards for flavored tobacco products seeks comments, data, research results or other information on:
—The role flavors may play in initiation and tobacco use, especially among youth and young adults.
—The role flavors may play in adult smoking cessation and/or switching to potentially less harmful alternatives.
—The role flavors in noncombustible tobacco products may play in quitting combustible-product use, quitting all tobacco use or starting dual usage.
—Consumer perceptions of health risks and addictiveness of flavored products.
—Whether certain flavors present potential adverse health effects to users or others.
—The impact of local, state and international efforts to restrict the sale or marketing of flavored tobacco products.
Gottlieb issued a statement acknowledging that flavored products can help initiate youth usage but might also help adult smokers switch to alternatives, saying that he’s spoken to many adults who have quit smoking through the use of vaporizers.
“I know anecdotes aren’t the same as data. And the ANPRM specifically seeks data on this issue,” Gottlieb said. “But these personal stories are important to me as we shape our overall approach to smoking cessation. And it’s important to me that we uphold the FDA’s responsibility to consider all sides and take into account, among other things, the risks and benefits to the population as a whole.”
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