Transcript for Melania Trump takes on issue of e-cigarettes
Now to first lady Melania trump, she’s taking on e-cigarettes as concerns grow over hundreds of cases of illnesses linked to vaping. And the fda accuses Juul of illegal marketing and Tom llamas is here with all the details. Reporter: States cracking down. The fda is putting companies on notice and the growing illnesses linked to vaping has reached the white house. Melania trump saying the country needs to stop them from becoming an on-ramp to nicotine addict. The first lady with a call to action speaking out against the growing vaping epidemic tweeting I am deeply concerned about the growing epidemic of e-cigarette use in our children. We need to do all we can to protect the public from tobacco-related disease and death. This as the fda issued a warning letter to e-cigarette company Juul accusing them of illegally marketing their product as a safer alternative to cigarettes including a company representative making those claims to students at a school despite failing to provide scientific data to back it up. There is a lot we don’t know about both short term and long-term consequences of vaping. To he see a long-term effect you need to study it over many year, 10, 20, 30 years and we don’t have that longitudinal time span with the e-cigarette. Reporter: The cds — CDC reporting 450 cases of vaping illnesses. They haven’t identified a particular product or device and the majority of patients have reported vaping marijuana products or e-cigarette devices purchased on the street. 18-year-old Seema Herman believes she almost died of two years of chronic habitual vaping first with e-cigarettes and a thc vaping device. When she had difficulty breathing her doctors said she quickly got worse. It was terrifying, just getting weaker and weaker. Reporter: She was attached to a ventilator for several days. Now, Juul which is the industry leader says they are reviewing the letter from the fda and plan to fully cooperate. This as Alabama is launching a new investigation and New York may follow Michigan’s lead and ban flavored e-cigarettes, also this morning, Michael Bloomberg and his foundation is pledging $160 million to combat this program. They say organizations and governments aren’t doing enough. Wow, definitely a lot still to be done. Thank you so much. You can see more on vaping tonight on “Nightline.”
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
