06.23.22

Durbin Applauds FDA Decision To Remove All JUUL Products From The Market

WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today praised the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision to remove all JUUL Lab Inc.’s products from the market, after finding these e-cigarettes fail to meet the agency’s public health standard for authorization.

“I'm happy to report that the Food and Drug Administration has announced this morning a dramatic, historic step forward to protect the children across America from e-cigarette and vaping products,” said Durbin. “They are finally starting actions to remove the products produced by the JUUL company that endanger our children. This is long overdue.” 

Durbin continued, “If the Food and Drug Administration did not take action on this today, did not initiate this effort to stop the sale of this product, we know more children would be addicted. As many as 750,000 to a million children have started since the FDA defied a court deadline in September. That just gives you an idea of the reach of this product and how serious it is. If you don't know the story behind e-cigarettes and vaping, ask a high school student in America. If that doesn't work, ask their parents when they discover that their kids are addicted to these products.”

“When I spoke to Dr. Califf this morning and he told me about this historic announcement by the Food and Drug Administration, he made it clear that tobacco, smoking, and nicotine products were a major threat to the health of children across this country and to Americans,” Durbin said. “Tobacco regulation, as he noted, is the major step forward in reducing the number of cancer deaths in America and heart disease. It is still a problem. It is still a challenge. And Big Tobacco and their new vaping allies are determined to once again get their hooks in our kids at an early age. I'm heartened by this decision.”

Video of Durbin’s floor speech is available here.

Audio of Durbin’s floor speech is available here.

Footage of Durbin’s floor speech is available here for TV Stations.

Yesterday, Durbin announced findings that more than 750,000 children have started to use e-cigarettes over the last nine months, in the period of time during which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has defied a court order to regulate all e-cigarettes on the market. This examination was based upon data from the National Institute of Health’s Monitoring the Future survey data of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders in 2020 and 2021.  The findings were also informed by 2022 survey results from the Truth Initiative’s longitudinal cohort study of youth who report initiation of e-cigarettes, as well as data from the CDC Foundation and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids on retail sales of e-cigarettes between 2020-2022. 

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