FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, CTP Director Mitchell Zeller

June 2020

Dear Director Zeller,

I am deeply concerned about the rapidly rising youth use of flavored disposable e-cigarettes including, but not limited to, Puff Bar.

Based on extensive evidence from parents and teens across the country and emerging academic and market research, young people are migrating from pod-based e-cigarettes like JUUL to these disposable products. Puff Bar, with over 20 flavors including “O.M.G”, “Frozen Banana”, “Pink Lemonade”, as well as replication of flavors previously offered by JUUL (“Mango” and “Cucumber”) is among the most popular, with teens now marketing to each other using tens of thousands of hashtags, hundreds of social-media pages, and extensive third-party sales on social-media and on eBay.

This company, whose official website states that it was created in 2019, way beyond the August 8, 2016 cut-off as outlined by the final Deeming Rule, appears to operate in multiple ways that are in direct violation of FDA’s existing policies. While disposable e-cigarettes are exempt from the latest guidance, Puff Bar’s promotional materials and outreach efforts (as cited in the May 29 letter you received from Parents Against Vaping E-cigarettes) appear to be the kind of teen-focused marketing behavior that you consider predatory to minors.

I join PAVe in urging you to immediately take action against Puff Bar.

FDA MUST protect minors from being courted as customers by e-cigarette companies. During this unprecedented period in our country’s history, when it has never been more important to protect our kids’ public health (especially their developing lungs), warnings alone are no longer enough. Please do not allow the guidance exemptions to provide Puff Bar, and other disposable flavored e-cigarette brands, a window of opportunity to brazenly target teens, openly break FDA rules, and operate as they please.

Respectfully yours,