The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently restricted the sales of most flavored e-cigarettes and plans to pursue bans on menthol cigarettes, according to officials.

E-cigarettes, also known as e-cigs, vape pens, vaporizers or hookah pens, are small devices that use a liquid that may contain nicotine. The liquid is heated to create an aerosol that the user inhales, according to the FDA.

The new FDA policy will require all types of flavored e-cigarettes, excluding menthol, to be sold by retailers that prohibit people under the age of 18, the federal minimum age to buy tobacco products, or have a section of the store that excludes minors.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Bob Sharits, program director at The Way Out Recovery SCV. “I think anytime you are marketing something that’s going to be attractive to kids that’s of an addictive nature, such as nicotine products or vape, that it’s dangerous to do that. Anything that we can do to get it out of the hands of those kids is a great idea.”

Over the past several years, e-cigarettes have been the most commonly used tobacco products by teens, with more than 2 million middle and high school students using them in 2017, according to the FDA.

As a result, the agency issued warnings and fines to more than 1,300 stores for the illegal sale of vaping products to minors while they conducted investigations.

KHTS went undercover earlier this year, and revealed at least two Santa Clarita vape shops were selling to minors.

Related: Santa Clarita Vape Shop Suspected Of Selling To Minors, KHTS Investigates

A KHTS reporter, who is under the age of 21, went to the Drip N’ Vape location on June 19 and purchased a canister of e-liquid, commonly referred to as “vape juice.” At no point during the transaction did the employee ask to see an ID, leading to the illegal sale of a vape product.

A second sting also found a shop in Saugus, iDrip, to be allegedly in violation of the law.

“These increases must stop,” said Scott Gottlieb, FDA Commissioner. “And the bottom line is this: I will not allow a generation of children to become addicted to nicotine through e-cigarettes.”

Related: County Coroner To Send Letters To Doctors When Patients Die Of Opioid Overdose

The surge in teen e-cig use is said to be reversing the years of progress in the fight against youth tobacco addiction, according to officials.

“The warning letters and civil money penalty complaints to retailers are the largest coordinated enforcement effort in agency history,” said FDA officials in a statement.

In an effort to combat the “epidemic,” the FDA is scheduled to host a public hearing in the state of Maryland on Dec. 5 to discuss its efforts to eliminate youth e-cig use, as well as other tobacco product use.

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