The FDA got it partially right on e-cigs. Here’s what else needs to be done.

The FDA may have carved out these devices because it didn’t have enough historical data on how young people use them. Or the agency may have inadvertently overlooked them because the policymakers are one step behind a social trend. It wouldn’t be the first time for federal regulators, and may be true here.

The new policy deliberately carved out open-tank vaping systems as a way to help preserve the adult vape stores that primarily sell this hardware. These devices require users to refill embedded tanks with e-liquids that are bought separately, and they are popular with adults. But they are also gaining traction with kids. One survey found that, after Juul, the open-tank vaping products Suorin and Smok are the most popular e-cigarette devices among high school students. The FDA should prioritize these two products for review.

Finally, the agency should take a cue from its remarkably successful “The Real Cost” public-service campaign targeting traditional cigarettes and redouble its efforts to inform young Americans about the harmful effects of e-cigarettes and nicotine addiction.

The FDA’s actions this week were months in the making and unveiled after uncertainty and delay. While at the agency, I, too, faced challenges advancing restrictions on e-cigarettes. Trying to use policy tools to fight a rapidly evolving addiction crisis is difficult. The lesson was learned with tragic consequences when it came to opioids. If we’re going to end the epidemic of nicotine addiction among kids, we need to meet its troubling twists and turns with speed and strength.