NPR

How Vaping Snuck Up On Regulators

Evan as the popularity of e-cigarettes like Juul has exploded — with unknown health risks — the federal government has been slow to regulate vaping companies.
Even as the popularity of e-cigarettes exploded — with unknown health risks — the federal government was slow to regulate vaping companies.

When President Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act in 2009, it gave government regulators an important new weapon in its battle against Big Tobacco.

For the first time, the Food and Drug Administration had the power to regulate the manufacturing, distribution and marketing of tobacco products, including the new and then-largely unknown practice of vaping.

Ten years later, e-cigarettes have become dramatically more popular, yet government officials have still not begun regulating the hundreds of vaping products now

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