Conway: Trump trying to find ‘balance’ on youth vaping issue

Kellyanne Conway, a top adviser to President Trump, said Thursday that Trump is trying to strike a balance on regulating e-cigarette flavors that preserves the products for adults but keeps them from children. 

“He’s looking for a way to respect and recognize and accommodate the fact that e-cigarettes have a public health benefit for those legal adult users who are trying to come down from combustibles [cigarettes],” Conway told reporters. 

Trump initially said in September his administration would clear the market of e-cigarette flavors like mint and fruit that studies show are appealing to kids and fueling a youth vaping epidemic. 

An estimated 27.5 percent of high school students and 10.5 percent of middle school students said they had used e-cigarettes in the past month, according to a study conducted by government researchers.

The study also showed students who vaped preferred fruit and mint or menthol flavors over traditional tobacco flavors.

But no guidance has been released by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates e-cigarettes, and it’s not clear if the administration is still pursuing a flavors ban. 

Trump held a roundtable before Thanksgiving with public health groups who support a flavor ban, and vaping advocates that oppose it, in an effort to find a compromise. 

Conway said Thursday the final guidance would be released by the FDA and not the White House, but she did not provide a timeline.