FILE PHOTO: E-cigarettes hang displayed in a tobacco shop in New York, June 23, 2015. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

(Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to announce a ban on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes in convenience stores and gas stations across the country as soon as next week, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

The FDA will also impose rules such as age-verification requirements for online sales, the paper reported wapo.st/2Dvb7x9, citing senior agency officials.

The move is a part of the FDA’s crackdown on the widespread usage of e-cigarettes in youth as the agency grapples with an “epidemic” of youth e-cigarette use that threatens to create a new generation of nicotine addicts.

E-cigarettes vaporize a liquid that contains nicotine, the addictive stimulant that gives smokers a rush.

The regulator last month seized more than a thousand pages of documents from market leader Juul Labs related to the company’s sales and marketing practices after a surprise inspection.

The FDA did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.