September 1, 2021

Dr. Janet Woodcock, MD
Acting Commissioner
Mr. Mitchell Zeller
Director, Center for Tobacco Products
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
10903 New Hampshire Ave.
Silver Spring, MD. 20993

Re: Premarket Tobacco Product Applications for flavored products

Submitted by e-mail.

Dear Dr. Woodcock,
Dear Director Zeller,

Over the past weeks more than two thousand parents have directly contacted you through Parents Against Vaping e-cigarette’s website, urging the FDA to deny JUUL's Menthol applications and those of ALL other flavored e-cigarettes, including all menthol products that are now used by almost 40% of vaping teens.

With the September 9th PMTA decision deadline imminent, we wanted to reach out one last time to share directly with you the concerns of the millions of families across the country that our grassroots organization, PAVe, represents - many of their lives have been upended by the youth vaping epidemic.

We fear that, should these products receive the 'gold standard' FDA approval, it is showing that the United States Government believes that these “...products’ potential benefit for adult smokers outweighs the significant known risk to youth…”, thereby condemning millions of kids to lifelong nicotine addiction. The FDA should not authorize the sale of ANY flavored e-cigarettes given the clear scientific evidence that flavored products caused the youth e-cigarette epidemic. There is no scientific proof that these products help individuals quit smoking. There are at least 3.6 million young people using these dangerous, addictive products, the majority of whom would never have been initiated into tobacco use. Now is not the time to turn our backs on those young people, and the countless others who will start to vape should these products remain on the market.

The clock is running out. We urge you to deny these applications and to immediately take ALL flavored e-cigarettes off the market. This issue affects millions of American families. Should these products be allowed to stay on the market, the youth vaping epidemic will not only continue, but will worsen, creating a new generation of customers for Big Tobacco.

Please do not hesitate to reach out if you wish to speak with us about this situation.

Sincerely,

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