A CDC study shows monthly e-cigarette sales have increased almost 50% over the past two years.
Experts say the increased sales were largely due to non-tobacco flavored products, which are popular among youth.
A 2020 FDA initiative aimed to restrict youth-targeted cartridge flavors like candy and fruit. However, this restriction only applied to prefilled cartridges, not disposable e-cigarettes. Sales in prefilled cartridges did decrease, but disposable options became almost twice as popular due to the availability of non-tobacco flavored products.
Paul Berger, a pulmonologist with Sanford, said these flavors attract users, especially the younger generation.
“The availability of flavors like mint, candy, fruit, chocolate, menthol, make the e-cigarette use maybe a little bit less noxious than smoking a regular cigarette, cigar, or other usual tobacco-related products,” he said.