{"id":227173,"date":"2020-09-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-23T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/puff-bar-takes-aim-at-teens-fda-fires-back\/"},"modified":"2020-09-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-09-23T07:00:00","slug":"puff-bar-takes-aim-at-teens-fda-fires-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/puff-bar-takes-aim-at-teens-fda-fires-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Puff Bar Takes Aim at Teens \u2013 FDA Fires Back"},"content":{"rendered":"

As families try to navigate the new normal of school-from-home and family routine disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new tobacco campaign is taking direct aim at youth. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Puff Bar\u2019s online campaign promises that their e-cigarettes will return sanity as the \u201cperfect escape from the back-to-back zoom calls and parental texts.\u201d This message comes directly into the homes of our middle and high school students while in school on their computers, tablets, and phones. The ad lies to them about the harmful effects of vaping.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) countered with a promised crack down. A recently released statement from the FDA says it will \u201cclosely monitor promotional activities and prioritize enforcement against companies marketing to minors.\u201d Their wink and nod ad to escape \u201cparental texts\u201d clearly peddles their poison to minors. Additionally, on July 20, 2020, the FDA issued warning letters to ten companies, including Puff Bar, to remove their flavored disposable e-cigarettes and youth-appealing e-liquid products from the market because they do not have the required premarket authorization.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Flavored tobacco products and sleek, sophisticated looking delivery systems have been hooking kids on smoking again for the past several years. According to the <\/span><\/span>Centros de Control y Prevenci\u00f3n de Enfermedades<\/span><\/a><\/u><\/span>, the number of middle and high school students using e-cigarettes rose from 3.6 million in 2018 to 5.4 million in 2019. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

COVID-19 has relegated most students to their home, and the industry is exploiting the crisis targeting kids through their marketing tactics. They offer free gifts of masks and hand sanitizers, and phrases like \u201ctake a break\u201d and \u201creduce stress\u201d in their marketing campaigns. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

La Mesa Mom, Moana Cabiles, is furious that these companies are targeting her daughters, ages 13 and 15. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no choice; my girls have to be online for school and other activities. These ads feel like zoom bombs. Shame on them for invading our home and their learning,\u201d said Cabiles. \u201cI\u2019m also offended by the \u2018parental text\u2019 reference. I have to check in on them while I\u2019m at work. I do that to support them and make sure everything is ok. We are all stressed, but vaping is no way to take a break.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Cabiles, like most parents, wants her teens to learn how to deal with stress in healthy ways. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard for parents to combat a multi-million-dollar industry that bombards kids with lies,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, vaping is not a way to reduce stress at all. According to the <\/span><\/span>FDA<\/span><\/a><\/u><\/span>, nicotine is especially addictive to young people because their brains are still developing. It changes connections in the brain, which can interfere with kids\u2019 attention and learning. It can increase anxiety, mood swings, and irritability at a developmental time when life is already challenging.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This also comes at a time when there is <\/span><\/span>emerging evidence about possible links between vaping and COVID-19<\/span><\/a><\/u><\/span>. Studies show the pulmonary effects of tobacco products, and specifically about e-cigarette aerosol, impacts on immunity, and increased risk of infection and risk of COVID-19. There is also some evidence that exposure to secondhand smoke can also increase risks related to COVID-19. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Combining these factors results in a perfect storm. Nicotine increases teens\u2019 anxiety, mood swings, and irritability, and it decreases their attention span and ability to learn. Schools are opening online because of COVID-19. Through these youth-targeted ads, the tobacco industry specifically takes advantage of the situation and targets kids online, lying to them about how relaxing a puff will be and hiding behind \u201chealthy promotions\u201d. No wonder parents like Cabiles are furious. More parents might be if they knew. The FDA enforcement could not happen soon enough.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>On June 25, 2020, California Senate passed SB 793, a bill creating the country\u2019s strongest restrictions on flavored tobacco products, to the State Assembly. Additionally, there are local ordinances focused on protecting minors from the harms of flavored tobacco products and vapes and on sales to minors and advertising that targets minors. The legal age to purchase any tobacco product, anywhere in America, is 21. With the support of our community and regional and state elected officials, we can help protect our youth from the harms of tobacco use and secondhand smoke.<\/span><\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As families try to navigate the new normal of school-from-home and family routine disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new tobacco campaign is taking direct aim at youth. Puff Bar\u2019s online campaign promises that their e-cigarettes will return sanity as the \u201cperfect escape from the back-to-back zoom calls and parental texts.\u201d This message comes directly […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":227174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11548","_seopress_titles_title":"Puff Bar Takes Aim at Teens \u2013 FDA Fires Back","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-227173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-la-mesa-courier"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}