| USA Today (9/18, O’Donnell) reports the FDA is launching a public service campaign targeting teen vaping. The FDA plans to place ads in 10,000 school restrooms and on websites. The campaign follows FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb’s announcement last week that teen e-cigarette use is an “epidemic.” Gottlieb said that the restroom ads are being placed there because it’s “a place we know many teens are using e-cigarettes or faced with the peer pressure to do so.” On its website, CNN (9/18, Lamotte) reports the campaign is aimed at the “nearly 10.7 million teens at risk for e-cigarette use and potential addiction, the agency said Tuesday.” Gottlieb explained, “We’re in possession of data that shows a disturbingly sharp rise in the number of teens using e-cigarettes in just the last year.” Kathy Crosby, who directs the Office of Health Communication and Education at the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said, “For the first time ever, we are bringing the campaign into high schools to the point of contact where they are doing the behavior.” On its website, NBC News (9/18) reports Mitch Zeller, Director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said, “E-cigarettes are now the most commonly used tobacco product among young people in the United States,” and “we need to get the word out about the dangers of e-cigarette use among adolescents.” The ADA Foundation offers a resource on e-cigarettes. |