Donald Trump is reportedly backing away from a proposal to ban flavored e-cigarettes amid fears of a backlash from voters.
It is understood POTUS is hesitant to press ahead with action on vaping as he fears suffering a backlash from voters, according to a report in The New York Times.
A ‘watered-down’ ban on flavored e-cigarettes that excluded menthol, which had been in the pipeline, will now not happen in the near future, it was reported.
The outlet reported that Trump was influenced by advisers who ‘warned him of political repercussions’ to any sweeping restrictions as he traveled to a political rally in Kentucky on November 4.
Donald Trump is reportedly backing away from a proposal to ban flavored e-cigarettes amid fears of a backlash from voters
Trump and his wife Melania are seen with US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar in September when he announced he was considering a ban on flavored vaping products
He reportedly cancelled the rollout of an announcement, which included a news conference that Alex M. Azar II, the health and human services secretary, was going to give on vaping the following day.
The development comes as figures this week showed that the death toll has risen to 42 people across the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.
A total of 2,172 people in every state but Alaska, plus Washington, DC and Puerto Rico are now sick with a mysterious lung illness that leaves doctors little recourse except to put them on ventilators, prescribe steroids and hope for the best.
The CDC has confirmed all 42 deaths, and reports that they’ve occurred in 24 – holding geographically steady from last week.
Increases may have slowed, but the illnesses remain prevalent and severe. On October 15, a 17-year-old athlete had to undergo an emergency double lung transplant after vaping left his lungs so scarred he was hardly able take in any oxygen.
Officials found vitamin E acetate in an outsize number of the samples of e-cigarettes used by sick people, and believe now that a combination of the oily vitamin derivative and THC are a ‘strong culprit.’
Most of the victims are male and under the age of 35, with ages of those who died ranging from 17 to 75, according to the CDC’ report from last week .
According to the CDC, about 86 percent of people who’ve fallen ill reported vaping THC, the main psychoactive component in marijuana.
Jeffrey Manzanares, 33, lies in the intensive care unit of the University of Utah Hospital while being treated for vaping injury and other lung infections in Salt Lake City last month
Vitamin E acetate was an early suspect as a cause of vaping-related illnesses after scientists in a New York lab discovered its presence in many samples of products used by sickened vapers
By comparison, a mere 11 percent have reported exclusive use of nicotine-containing products.
Most of the illnesses have resulted from people vaping a combination of THC and nicotine, health officials say.
They add that teens and young people make up the majority of illnesses because flavored e-cigarettes were marketed towards them.
The CDC’s analysis of 29 samples from the e-cigarettes used by people with the mysterious lung illness revealed that they all contained vitamin E acetate.
Twenty-three out of 28 samples contained THC.
Dr Schuchat said that other ingredients have not been ruled out and multiple causes are possible, but the ‘sticky’ nature of the acetate and commonality of THC are ‘noteworthy,’ according to CDC’s Dr James Pirkle.
Doctors still don’t know how to treat the illness that has been dubbed ‘EVAL’ (short for ‘e-cigarette or vaping product use associated lung injury) beyond supportive therapy like putting patients on respirators and, perhaps, steroid treatment.
Demonstrators vape during a consumer advocate groups and vape storeowners rally outside of the White House to protest the proposed vaping flavor ban in Washington DC in November
Liquid for E-Cigarettes is displayed for sale at Good Guys Vape Shop in Biddeford, Maine. A proposed ban that President Donald Trump outlined in September would supersede any state inaction and includes a ban on mint and menthol
Juul products are displayed at a smoke shop in New York. The company announced it will voluntarily stop selling its fruit and dessert-flavored vaping pods
Nonetheless, Dr Schuchat said: ‘These findings are significant,’ in the Friday press briefing.
Vitamin E acetate was an early suspect as a cause of vaping-related illnesses after scientists in a New York lab discovered its presence in many samples of products used by sickened vapers.
Juul is has faced intense scrutiny for its role in the youth vaping epidemic and announced last month that it will no longer sell flavored pods like creme brulee, cucumber, mango, mint and fruit anywhere.
Meanwhile, New York, Michigan, Montana, Rhode Island, Utah and Washington have enacted temporary bans on flavored e-cigarette products.
Massachusetts outdid them all when Governor Charlie Baker declared a public health emergency and enacted a ban all vaping products, flavored or non-flavored.
However, on Tuesday, a Superior Court judge ruled that the ban had to be lifted by next week for medical marijuana users.
Additionally, the so-called Baker ban is being challenged in court by vape shop owners who say the bans will cost their business millions of dollars.