Determination of the Period Covered by a No-Tobacco-Sale Order and Compliance With an Order
No-Tobacco-Sale Order Compliance With an Order Tobacco Retailers open CTP 2015-280 Colleen Maschal Determination of the Period Covered by a Guidance for Tobacco Retailers Availability NTSOs
2015-07-23
FDA-2015-D-0404-0003
04:00:00
https://api.regulations.gov/v4/comments/FDA-2015-D-0404-0003
Anonymous
Anonymous
These regulations are an important step towards curbing the sale of tobacco products to minors and ensuring compliance by retailers of tobacco products.   We support these regulations with slight amendments. Under these regulations, a retailer would be able to continue to sell electronic products containing nicotine, without repercussion, despite a no-tobacco-sale order.  Data collected by the State of Alaska has shown a four-fold increase in Alaskan adult use of e-cigarettes between 2010-2013.  Recent studies have also shown the dramatic rise in youth use of e-cigarettes and Alaska is no exception.  Many Alaskan youth have stories of their peers using e-cigarettes in class when their teachers are not looking and exhaling the aerosol down their shirts.  Without including e-products in the NTSO, the proposed regulations will not be as effective as needed.The proposed regulations also fall short by not requiring retailers to either cover tobacco products or remove them from the shelves.  There is also no requirement to inform customers of the NTSO.  Finally, The State of Alaska Synar program provides for stiffer penalties and more immediate enforcement of tobacco sale violations than these proposed regulations.  The FDAs proposed five violations before issuing a NTSO is too lenient.  Alaska imposes a NTSO of 30 days after a single violation during Synar compliance checks.  This will likely create confusion among retailers and may create miseducation that repeated violations are allowed prior to a consequence occurring, such as is proposed by these FDA regulations.