The number of high school student regularly using e-cigarettes dropped significantly over the past year after several years of soaring use—the result of public health warnings about e-cigarette risks and vaping-related illnesses, and a ban on sales of flavored products popular with young people.
Yet the data also reveals a disturbing trend: sales of disposable flavored vapes soared more than 1,000 percent to 26.5 percent of high school students, compared to 2.4 percent a year earlier, as teens rushed to buy this type of mint fruit and mint-flavored e-cigarette. The overall decline in teen vaping is encouraging news, but the FDA decision to exclude disposable products is a missed opportunity that the agency must address.
Meanwhile, House Democrats have delayed voting on a measure to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level—the first bill of its kind to reach the House—after criticism from moderates who want the caucus to focus on corona virus relief. Nearly 70 percent of Americans favor legalizing marijuana, but the 2020 Rosenthal Cannabis Study found growing concerns about the risks and dangers of legal weed as well as support for a moratorium on further legalization until further research can be done.
And finally, a new study looking at the impact or warning labels on cannabis packages in the U.S. and Canada shows they do communicate risks to consumers—more so for impaired driving than psychotic episodes, which were considered less believable. Overall, warning labels on cannabis products can educate consumers about impact and potential harm, the report concluded.