FDA adds e-cigarettes to regulations
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it will now include regulations for electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), cigars, hookah tobacco and pipe tobacco.
Until the announcement, the FDA could only regulate cigarettes and cigarette-related products and smokeless tobacco.
The new regulations will forbid the sale of e-cigarettes to children, will allow the government to regulate the contents of the products and will require new health warnings.
The agency said manufacturers would have to seek permission to remain on the market under a multi-tiered system. Those that don't submit the required information could have their products taken off the market.
The FDA attempted to ban the sale of e-cigarettes following a study in 2009 that found detectable levels of carcinogens and toxic chemicals in e-cigarettes samples, however that effort was blocked after a court ruled in 2010 that the FDA did not cite evidence of harm.