Health Highlights: Nov. 21, 2019

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

White House Meeting on Teen Vaping Set For Friday

A meeting to discuss high rates of teen vaping in the United States will be held Friday at the White House, officials say.

They said that medical experts, health advocates and industry representatives will meet with President Donald Trump, the Associated Press reported.

It's recently been suggested that Trump is backing away from a pledge made in September to ban virtually all e-cigarette flavors.

There's been a sharp rise in e-cigarette use among U.S. teens, but the federal government has not yet finalized regulations for the devices, the AP reported.

In the absence of federal government action on vaping, several states have moved to ban flavored vaping products. That's led to legal challenges from the industry and lobbying of lawmakers and the White House to prevent new rules that would affect adults' use of e-cigarettes.

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House Committee Passes Bill to Decriminalize Pot on Federal Level

A bill for the U.S. government to decriminalize and tax marijuana was passed Wednesday by a House committee in a 24-10 vote.

The bill would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act and permit states to make their own rules on the drug, the Associated Press reported.

It would also levy a 5% sales tax on marijuana products and would require federal courts to erase prior marijuana convictions.

Many Americans live in states where marijuana is legal in some form and federal policy on the drug has lagged behind states, committee members noted.

The vote supporting the bill "marks a turning point for federal cannabis policy and is truly a sign that prohibition's days are numbered," Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, said in a statement, the AP reported.

But it wasn't immediately clear if the proposal would be reviewed by other committees and when, or if, a vote would take place in the full House. The proposal has better chances of passing in the Democratic-controlled chamber than in the Republican-held Senate, the AP said.