Concerned about tobacco use by teens, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it would start the process to ban menthol in cigarettes and limit sales of flavored e-cigarettes to youths.

"I will not allow a generation of children to become addicted to nicotine through e-cigarettes," said FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb.

About half of teens who smoke cigarettes choose menthols, although a ban on menthol cigarettes would have greater impact on the health of Americans.  The problem is that it would take years to put into place, assuming it gets past the interference that the pro-smoking industry will oppose new restrictions.

Battery-powered e-cigarettes are more popular among teens than regular cigarettes, and flavored e-cigarettes have been blamed for a recent increase in teen vaping rates.  Even though smoking is down for five straight decades - fewer than nine percentr of high school students, accordig to the latest figures - vaping has increased 78 percent amongst high schoolers and 48 percent in middle school students.