Juul Labs is in focus on Thursday after the Food and Drug Administration barred it from selling its e-cigarettes in the United States.
Former FDA commissioner reacts to the news on CNBC
Yet, e-cigarettes from rivals RJ Reynolds, NJOY, and Logic remain authorised for sale in the U.S. Explaining why on CNBC’s “Squawk Box”, former FDA commissioner Dr Scott Gottlieb said:
I think the issue with Juul Labs device is the legacy of youth addiction with that product and that the fact that it was inappropriately marketed to children and became the fulcrum of the youth addiction crisis.
Shares of Altria Group Inc (NYSE: MO) that has a 35% stake in Juul Labs have been sinking in recent hours. The decision sure is a big blow to the e-cigarettes maker that dubs U.S. its largest market.
Dr Gottlieb was behind FDA’s initial push to regulate nicotine
The announcement comes as part of the regulator’s broader push to regulate the vaping industry. Dr Gottlieb was behind the initial framework created to regulate nicotine levels in 2017.
What they’re doing right now is following the framework we put forward in summer 2017. It was a multi-part plan to regulate nicotine in the combustible products but open up avenues for the non-combustible products. They’ve done that.
Juul’s mint and fruit flavoured vapes were already banned in the U.S. in 2020. The FDA also wants tobacco companies to cut nicotine content in their products to minimally or non-addictive levels.
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