The usually reticent first lady Melania Trump took to Twitter on Monday to air her concern about a “growing epidemic” of teen vaping.
Her Twitter-addicted husband had already gotten the message.
The couple has a 13-year-old son and the first lady’s tweet followed weeks of behind-the-scenes efforts to come up with a response to growing pressure over the explosion of teen vaping and the spread of a mysterious vaping-linked illness across the country.
President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday unexpectedly announced a crackdown. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, sitting at his side, said that federal regulators would pull thousands of flavored vapes off the market until they go through regulatory reviews. That bar will be tough for many e-cigarette makers to clear, federal officials suggested.
The first lady was not the only driving force. Tackling teen vaping is one of those child health issues that appeals to a wide swath of voters — and Democrats have scheduled hearings and demanded prompt action from the Food and Drug Administration.
But Trump said his wife’s pressure was key. In comparison with past first ladies, she has had a low profile on public policy. Here, in contrast, she persuaded her husband to dramatically shift the government's approach to a massive, growing and politically connected industry. That's something that neither federal regulators nor Capitol Hill had been able to do.
“Melania has the same concerns as any mom with a 13-year-old child," said a former Trump adviser who remains close to the White House. "Whether it’s bullying or smoking ... moms want their kids to be safe. And in this case, she whispers in the ear of the American president who can actually do something about this crisis that moms care about.”
Source: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/11/melania-trump-donald-trump-vaping-1727048
“These are illegal products and should not be on the market without approval from FDA, which they do not have,” Kessler told POLITICO Wednesday. “The increase in youth use and the recent concerns about safety no longer can justify the administration using enforcement discretion to avoid implementing the law.”
The FDA in 2017 pushed a deadline for reviewing e-cigarette products back by four years. A federal court this summer ordered it to require submissions within 10 months, effectively moving the deadline to May 2020. In the meantime, e-cigarettes remain on the market subject to the agency's discretion.
“...she whispers in the ear of the American president who can actually do something about this crisis that moms care about.”
Isn’t everything a “crisis”?