The federal government's partial ban on flavored vape products went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, capping a year of backlash, lobbying, and patchwork laws meant to respond to what public health officials consider to be an epidemic of teen vaping.
The efficacy of the ban, however, remains an open question. Juul, by far the leading brand of pod-based e-cigarettes, had already voluntarily removed its flavored products from the market, leaving just menthol and tobacco (the two flavors not affected by the FDA's ban). And, as reported recently by the New York Times, many teens have already moved on to disposable vapes, which are exempt from the federal ban in a major loophole.
Lauren Williams, a Kentucky high-school teacher, told the Times: "Students were telling me that everybody had gone to Puff Bars, which are disposable ... the one we confiscated here this week is Banana Ice. Students are not using Juuls anymore because no one wants menthol or tobacco."
In addition to tobacco and menthol flavors, the ban also has carve-outs for "mods," the more advanced e-cigarettes sold in vape shops. That exemption was intended to mollify the vape-shop industry, which said it faced extinction if those were to be regulated. It is also unclear how the FDA will enforce the ban given that vape products are typically sold in convenience stores, of which there are more than 150,000 in the country, according to the industry's trade group. Most of those stores are not part of larger national chains that could institute company-wide implementation efforts.
The FDA, for its part, says that it will closely monitor the marketplace and has an enforcement plan in place.
The partial federal ban follows several other state bans, including one in New York that was blocked by a state judge last month. And on the first day of the federal ban, the now-outlawed flavored pods were still available on some store shelves in Lower Manhattan ー priced at nearly double the cost of the tobacco flavors.
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
