Picture: Electronic cigarettes displayed in Walmart Internet pictures

[Ta Kung Pao News] According to the Associated Press: E-cigarette products have been hit again in the United States. Walmart, the largest retailer in the United States, announced on Friday (20th) that it will completely stop selling e-cigarette products in its stores. In addition, major American television stations such as CBS and CNN parent company WarnerMedia have announced that they will ban e-cigarette advertisements.

Wal-Mart stated that due to "the increasing complexity and uncertainty of federal, state and local government regulations related to e-cigarettes," Wal-Mart stores across the United States and the group's Sam's Club stores will stop selling e-cigarette products after the existing inventory is sold out. In May, Walmart raised the minimum purchase age for tobacco products to 21 and stopped selling fruit-flavored e-cigarettes popular among teenagers.

The e-cigarette industry claims that e-cigarettes are a healthy alternative to traditional cigarettes, but this has been questioned recently. There have been more than 500 cases of respiratory illness caused by vaping in the United States, and eight people have died as of this week. At the same time, the problem of underage smoking of e-cigarettes has become increasingly serious and has attracted widespread attention. The dangers of e-cigarettes, especially flavored e-cigarettes, have sparked heated debate.

In June this year, San Francisco announced a ban on the sale of e-cigarettes, becoming the first major city in the United States to enact such a ban. This week, Michigan and New York announced bans on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes. The Trump administration also recently stated that it is drafting federal regulations to comprehensively ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes.

E-cigarettes account for a small proportion of the nicotine-containing products sold by Walmart, so the suspension of sales will have little impact on Walmart. But for e-cigarette manufacturers, losing Wal-Mart as a sales channel is a heavy blow. The American Vaping Technology Association called Wal-Mart's move "irresponsible" and will force adult smokers to buy more traditional cigarettes.