BALTIMORE (AP) — Elected officials in Baltimore are considering new laws to cut down on smoking and vaping.
The Baltimore Sun reports the city council has introduced a package of anti-smoking legislation.
One of the measures would ban the sale of flavored vaping liquids.
The package of bills is similar to current efforts by the Food and Drug Administration to limit flavored electronic cigarettes.
Last month a top U.S. health official pledged to try to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars and tighten rules governing the sale of most flavored versions of e-cigarettes.
About half of teens who smoke cigarettes choose menthols, and flavored e-cigarettes have been blamed for a recent increase in teen vaping rates.
Vaping among youth raises issues: Vaping increased by 78 percent among high school students since 2017 and 49 percent among middle schoolers, information from the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey says.
Because of mindset that vaping is a better smoking option, Assistant Principal Jon Frey said its becoming a popular trend among teenagers, in addition to adults which vaping companies say they target in an effort to reduce the number of traditional smokers.
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