Striking back at the "epidemic" of surging "youth utilizations of e-cigarettes," Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar vowed to get at the root cause – retailers, manufacturings and distributors getting these products to underage kids.
"These alternative nicotine delivery devices can be important for helping adults get off of combustible tobacco as an offramp," Azar admitted to Fox Business' "Mornings With Maria" on Thursday.
"But we are not going to let e-cigarettes be an on-ramp for our youth to get addicted to nicotine and transition potentially into combustible tobacco — not going to happen."
Studies have shown teen vaping with e-cigarettes has been a gateway to smoking traditional cigarettes.
Also, studies havee concluded e-cigarettes should not be considered "safe," increasing cardiovascular aging in animal studies.
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