vaping

The federal government is taking action to pull many flavored products popular with kids off the market. Public health advocates say the move doesn't go far enough.

Anyone under 21 can no longer legally buy cigarettes, cigars or any other tobacco products in the U.S. The new law enacted last week by Congress also applies to electronic cigarettes and vaping products that heat a liquid containing nicotine.

President Trump has signed off on raising the age of sale from 18 to 21 for cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Health advocates worry it guards the industry from further sweeping regulations.

The spate of more than 2,500 acute vaping-related lung injuries tracked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is on the decline, epidemiologists say, and the number of deaths has slowed.

Health officials have not been able to determine what it is about vaping products that has caused hundreds of cases of severe lung disease in the nation. But this month, the Centers for Disease Control found that vitamin E acetate was present in all of the 29 patients they reviewed.

In every lung fluid sample tested from patients afflicted with lung injury, the scientists found traces of a chemical called vitamin E acetate. The discovery is seen as a breakthrough.

Many cases of vaping-related injury seem to involve THC, health officials say. That's led some states to take another look at the safety of the regulated cannabis market, as well as the black market.

Starting to vape is easy, but quitting a nicotine habit can be tough, teens are finding. Some vaping cessation programs have begun to reach out to teens where they live — on their phones.

In a complex world surrounded by seemingly endless risks, why should one, like vaping e-cigarettes, become a problem that attracts so much national attention from health officials, politicians and the press?

In an executive order Inslee says "no one substance has been identified as the cause of these vaping-related lung injuries" in the state, and that it is imperative that the state respond "to address this public health crisis."