Most Americans support banning flavored e-cigarettes, poll says

Fifty-two percent of Americans support a ban on the sale of electronic cigarettes with fruit and other flavors, while 44 percent oppose that idea, according to poll results released Thursday by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The public was more divided on a similar question — whether all e-cigarettes should be banned, including those that aren’t flavored. Forty-nine percent favored such a ban, while 47 percent opposed it, the poll said.

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Younger adults, those ages 18 to 29, opposed both ideas by large margins — more than 60 percent in each case.

The results come amid reports by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that vaping has been linked to more than two dozen deaths across 21 states and more than 1,200 cases of severe lung illnesses in 49 states. Meanwhile, the Trump administration and several states are seeking to limit or ban the sale of e-cigarettes.

On Thursday, e-cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs announced it will stop selling fruit and dessert flavors for its products.

Among the Kaiser poll’s other findings: Eighty-one percent of Americans believe teenagers using flavored e-cigarettes would not otherwise be smoking. Also, many adults see e-cigarettes as a safer alternative for tobacco smokers who are trying to quit.

Among all age groups, 31 percent felt that way, according to the poll. But among adults under 30 years old, 45 percent were in the “safer alternative” camp.

The poll was conducted Oct. 3-8. It reached 1,205 adults who were contacted by phone using random sampling. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.