The Food and Drug Administration on Monday called out tobacco retailers, including Walgreens and 7/11, for illegally selling tobacco products, especially e-cigarettes, to minors.
“The stakes are too high for our young people and our country’s decades-long fight to reduce the morbidity and mortality that accompanies tobacco product use,” FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement. “Retailers are on the frontlines of these efforts to reduce the health consequences of tobacco use and nicotine dependence.”
The FDA identified 15 retail chains whose violation rates for illegal sales to minor exceed 15 percent, including major gas station chains, convenience stores, and retailers.
The agency specifically faulted Walgreens for having 1,800 violations in total nationwide, and said that it had requested a meeting with Walgreens leadership to discuss the issue. The FDA said that 22 percent of Walgreen’s 6,350 stores have illegally sold tobacco products to minors, a fact it called “disturbing.”
[Related: Youth smoking soared in 2018 and the government blames e-cigarettes]
The FDA said that it plans to contact other retailers, too, about their high rates of violations, and than it has asked a range of companies whether they are selling e-cigarette products in violation of FDA regulations. As of now, retailers must pay fines for breaking the law, but the FDA said it is considering taking more punitive action against the offending stores.
Gottlieb, a Trump appointee, has led a crackdown on e-cigarette sales meant to curb what he has called an epidemic of e-cigarette use by minors. Many adult smokers use e-cigarettes to cut down on regular cigarettes, which are far more harmful. But Gottlieb has said that he fears that the popularity of Juul and other forms of vaping among high schoolers and college students could lead to a major increase in tobacco dependency.
