Trump wavers on flavored-vape ban, will propose raising buying age to 21

President Trump on Friday wavered on a possible ban of flavored e-cigarettes — but said his administration will propose raising the age minimum for buying vaping products to 21.

The president backed off his September promise of a widespread flavored-vape restriction during a heated roundtable with public-health advocates and vaping-industry executives at the White House.

Trump expressed concerns that a ban would lead to black-market sales of unsafe products.

“You watch prohibition … If you don’t give it to them, it is going to come here illegally … They could be selling something on a street corner that could be horrible … They are going to have a flavor that is poison,” the president said.

But regarding an age minimum, Trump said, “Twenty one, we are going to be doing.”

The current federal minimum age is 18, although some states such as New York have already raised theirs to 21.

The meeting came amid a nationwide vaping crisis that has claimed at least 47 lives and injured nearly 2,290  others as of Wednesday, according to data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Additional reporting by Marisa Schultz

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