by Huang Heng
LAS VEGAS, United States, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Business insiders joining a vape trade show here said that the U.S. government would release regulation on vape in two weeks, hoping it would not be too tough for the industry.
"I cannot say I welcome the White House's new regulation on vaping ... but regulating the industry is the way you have to go," a participant from sweetvapeco.com, an online vape store, told Xinhua.
ASH BT, the preferred name of the participant, is one of the businessmen at the Vapexpo Las Vegas trade show who refused to disclose their real names. His company sells about two dozens of flavored vaping products highlighting "sweet and fruity."
These kid-friendly flavors are the main targets of state and local authorities, who aim to crack down on e-cigarettes. Several U.S. states have banned the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and nicotine e-liquids, saying it leads to addiction of young people.
Though some e-cigarette industry advocates said that vape had less harm than tobacco, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other health experts warned that nicotine in the products can still harm parts of the developing brain that control learning, memory and mood.
Public sentiment has been increasingly turning against vaping, especially the use of flavors in vaping products.
The American Medical Association on Tuesday called for a "total ban" on all e-cigarettes and vaping products.
The U.S. state of California and New York filed lawsuits earlier this week against the San Francisco-based e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. (Juul), whose sales account for more than 64 percent of all e-cigarettes in the country, for "deceptive marketing practices" targeting minors.
Juul has already stopped producing most flavored products, but California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said it should be responsible for creating "a public health epidemic."
On the sidelines of a meeting held in the White House on Friday, Senator Mitt Romney said that "we've got almost 6 million kids addicted to nicotine, and they're getting addicted to nicotine because of flavors."
"It's a health emergency ... It's killing our kids," he said.
The CDC reported 2,290 vaping-related lung injuries and 47 death in the country on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the e-cigarette industry hopes for softer regulation on vape, saying a sweeping ban is unrealistic.
"The idea of imposing a minimum age requirement of 21 for the purchase of vaping products is good," said Zee, a salesmen from Ezzy, a vape pen manufacture. "But a sweeping ban is not. You have learned the alcohol ban in 30s last century."
In Friday's debate at the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was concerned that a ban on flavored vaping products could lead children to seek out unsafe alternatives that would pose an even greater risk to their health.
"The good news is Donald Trump has backed away," said ASH BT, adding that he believed the government will retreat from an earlier plan to ban virtually all vaping flavors due to their appeal to teens.
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