Editorial: FDA acts to keep e-cigarettes from kids

In a remarkably aggressive move for the Trump administration, the FDA has given e-cigarette makers 60 days to submit plans for curbing teenage use of their products. The use of e-cigarettes, or vaping, has ballooned in the last few years among young people, though federal law prohibits selling the products to anyone under 18. The punishment for noncompliance: possible removal of flavored nicotine pods and civil and criminal charges. The FDA also sent warning letters to 1,100 retailers and issued 131 fines for underage sales. The measures show a seriousness about curbing this budding public health problem.

According to the Florida Department of Health, the number of Florida high school students using e-cigarettes increased from 10.8 percent in 2014 to 18 percent in 2016 -- a 72 percent leap. As the smoking rate has dropped, vaping has increased.

E-cigarettes don't burn tobacco and may pose less of a danger than smoking, but their addictive potential is still alarming. A single liquid pod contains as much nicotine as an entire pack of cigarettes, as well as other potentially harmful chemicals.

Some teens report vaping multiple pods a day. Of course, it's the nicotine that turns users into addicts, and adolescent brains, because they are still developing, are especially susceptible to addiction. This is a public health concern that must be contained before it becomes a crisis.

The FDA, under commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb, took criticism last year for extending the deadline for e-cigarette makers to comply with new health regulations. However, those rules were part of a comprehensive plan to reduce smoking and tobacco deaths, and e-cigarettes can be a substitute for people trying to quit smoking. Gottlieb also said the rules would include reductions in the nicotine content of e-cigarettes. Those proposals should absolutely work in tandem, so that one health problem doesn't simply replace another.

The FDA is taking a strong, proactive approach to clamping down hard on the marketing and sales of e-cigarettes to young people. The old Joe Camel cigarette ads that succeeded in turning kids onto smoking are all the precedent that should be needed to halt social media campaigns and other efforts targeting young users. E-cigarette makers are now on notice that they must leave children out of their business plan or face the consequences.