Experts say U.S. flavored E-cigarette products ban will have little effect

The U.S. ban on certain flavored e-cigarette products that takes effect Thursday will do little to stem teens' use of nicotine, experts say.

Youth-friendly flavors such as mint and fruit are targeted by the ban, but menthol and tobacco flavors will still be legal. And the ban applies only to cartridge or prefilled pod devices. All other devices will still be on the market, NBC News reported. That includes highly concentrated, refillable nicotine vape products called Smok and Suorin Drops and disposable vape pods called Puff Bars.

"I'm not very optimistic," Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, Ph.D., a professor at Stanford University in California who studies teen vaping, told NBC News. "We really do need to have enforcement of the law across all tobacco products, regardless of these loopholes."

"The new policy does not solve the problem," Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, told NBC News. "Millions of flavored products will remain available."

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