The Federal Drug Administration is cracking down on flavored e-cigarettes products in an effort to head off a new teen tobacco use epidemic but the department may hinder some adults trying to quit smoking.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced in November that the FDA is considering new rules regarding the sale of e-cigarettes and the e-liquid used in them, after results from the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey showed a 78 percent increase in the number of high school students using e-cigarettes between 2017 and 2018. One of the proposed rules would require nearly all flavored e-liquids that are used in e-cigarettes to be sold in age-restricted shops or an area of a store that is not accessible to minors. The only e-liquid flavors that would be exempt from the new rule would be mint, menthol and tobacco.

Eric Pinnell, the owner of Oregon Vape Society in Springfield doesn’t object to the idea of restricting sales of flavored e-liquids, but he does have some concerns that the federal government will take it one step further and ban flavored e-liquids all together.

“If they completely ban flavors it will hurt the industry and people,” he said. “It’s how most of us have quit smoking cigarettes. Limiting things to menthol and tobacco won’t work. It will chase people back to cigarettes.”

“I don’t want kids smoking. I’m a big supporter of stopping kids from getting tobacco products," Pinnell said. "I went from cigarolas to cigarettes at the age of 18.” Pinnell recently quit smoking with the help of e-cigarettes — electronic devices that vaporize, rather than burn, a liquid that contains nicotine and sometimes flavorings.

The FDA is concerned about the increasing number of teens using e-cigarettes and hopes that limiting access to sweet e-liquid flavors will help prevent kids from getting hooked on nicotine products.

According to recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control the use of e-cigarettes among high school students nationally has increased 19 percent in seven years — from 1.5 percent or 220,000 students in 2011 to 20.8 percent or 3.05 million students in 2018.

"The data from this nationally representative survey, conducted of middle and high school students, show astonishing increases in kids’ use of e-cigarettes and other (electronic nicotine delivery systems), reversing years of favorable trends in our nation’s fight to prevent youth addiction to tobacco products," Gottlieb said when announcing the proposed rules.

The Oregon Health Authority also is concerned about teen e-cigarette use, said Delia Hernández, a communications officer with the department.

OHA conducts voluntary health surveys with eighth and 11th graders every two years. According to the survey results, Oregon teen use of e-cigarette products nearly tripled from 5 percent in 2013 to 13 percent in 2017.

In Lane County, the number of 11th graders using e-cigarettes increased from 4 percent in 2013 to 13.5 percent in 2017.

The 2013 survey didn’t ask Oregon 11th graders about flavored tobacco products or what was tobacco product they used first, but in 2017, 12.7 percent of 11th graders statewide said they used a flavored tobacco product in the last 30 days, and 15.9 percent said their first tobacco product was an e-cigarette.

In Lane County, 13.6 percent of 11th graders said they had used a flavored tobacco product and 16.9 percent said their first tobacco product was an e-cigarette.

The sweet flavors — from cherry to cinnamon roll — that many e-liquid manufacturers sell are particularly attractive to teens because they taste good and reduce the harshness of the tobacco, Hernández said. Nine out 10 tobacco retailers in Oregon sell flavored tobacco products.

Pinnell agreed that some of the packaging and cute flavor names that were puns on cookies, candy and juice boxes that some e-liquid manufacturers used when products first hit the shelves in 2007 were attractive to children. But as the industry has matured, the responsible manufacturers have moved away from those colorful labels, he said. Many now use a plainer label that makes it harder for someone to determine what flavor is in the bottle until they hold it in their hand.

Adults like sweet flavors too, Pinnell said. Tobacco tastes terrible, even the really good tobacco flavored e-liquids taste terrible, he said. But once you’re hooked on nicotine, it’s hard to quit.

Fruity or sweet e-liquid flavors allow people who are trying to quit to get the nicotine hit they might need, he said. E-liquid also comes in several different levels of nicotine, which can help someone who is trying to wean themselves off cigarettes.

In his announcement, Gottlieb said he still thinks e-cigarettes can help some adults quit smoking, but at the same time he has a duty to prevent children from becoming addicted to nicotine.

"The data make unmistakably clear that, if we’re to break the cycle of addiction to nicotine, preventing youth initiation on nicotine is a paramount imperative," he wrote.

However, Hernández pointed out that e-cigarettes are not FDA-approved to help people quit tobacco. She pointed to a 2017 study by the CDC that showed that many people who use e-cigarettes to quit smoking end up smoking both e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes. Other studies show that some people are able to quit using e-cigarettes but the sample of people used in the studies was very small.

Hernández also raised concerns that flavors used by some companies may not only get kids hooked on nicotine but keep adults, who already smoke, hooked on nicotine.

While new rules being considered, Pinnell is concerned about the federal or state government taking more extreme steps. If the government decided to ban the use of all flavored e-liquid, it would put him and probably most other vape shops out of business, Pinnell said. He currently has about 3,500 bottles of e-liquid, the majority of which are flavored, on his shelves right now that cost about $10 a bottle.

Tobacco-flavored e-liquid doesn’t sell, he said. In the year that his shop has been open, he’s sold eight bottles of tobacco flavored e-liquid, most to the same customer.

Vape shops also have gotten smarter about preventing kids from gaining access to e-cigarettes and e-liquids, he said. More of them now store all of the e-cigarette devices and e-liquid behind the counter, which forces a customer to ask for a product.

Pinnell said at his shop, which sells to customers who are 21 or older, he's trained his employees to always ask for a customer’s ID regardless of how old they look. Employees also are trained to look for certain clues that a customer may be selling product to someone else after they leave the shop.

It’s a big red flag if someone walks into the shop and they don’t know what they want, he said. Most customers know the flavors they like and the amount of nicotine they are looking for in their e-liquid.

Another red flag is someone who comes in and buys several bottles at time, several times a week, he said.

“I don’t have to sell to someone,” he said. “And I don’t sell to someone who I think is turning around and selling it to someone who is underage.”

The FDA plans to hold a public hearing on the proposed rule changes and is taking public comments until Jan. 2, 2019.

Follow Suzanne on Twitter @SuzanneAdamsRG. Email: sadams-ockrassa@registerguard.com