The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cracked down on flavored vapes after noticing a spike in kids purchasing the products. Now, the Supreme Court is weighing in on whether this was an unlawful blocking.
Previously, the FDA has not approved the marketing and sales of flavored e-cigarettes due to public health concerns. That hasn’t, however, kept them off the market entirely. Countless kid-friendly flavors, including fruit, candy, and desserts, are available illegally, without FDA approval, resulting in a boom in the popularity of e-cigarettes.
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As if that wasn’t enough of a headache for the FDA (and concerned parents countrywide), countless vape companies and manufacturers have challenged their ruling. After blocking the marketing and sale of more than a million kid-friendly nicotine products, the FDA was hit with lawsuits from two companies enraged by the rejection of their applications, per ABC News.
The manufacturers, Triton Distribution and Vapetasia, insisted that there’s a “growing body of scientific evidence [showing that] flavors are crucial to getting adult smokers to make the switch and stay away from combustible cigarettes.”
However, the FDA countered their argument and deemed their evidence insufficient. Other experts are also challenging the companies’ theory.
“If you ask adults who smoke if they were to switch to e-cigarettes what kind of flavors are they interested in, the majority of responses are tobacco flavor,” said Caroline Cecot, an administrative law expert at George Washington University Law School, per ABC News. “If you ask kids, they like the fruit or candy flavor … And we have this evidence.”
Additionally, Josie Shapiro, a national youth ambassador for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said that flavored vapes are what got her hooked on tobacco products in the first place—when she was only 14 years old.
“I think that by marketing any sort of flavored product as bubble gum or any of the genres of candy, it’s going to catch the eyes of children,” Shapiro said, per ABC News. “I’m still addicted, and I’m still trying to fight my addiction. Honestly, the FDA needs to regulate all flavored tobaccos to flavor ‘tobacco’ products and get them off the market.”
Today, the Supreme Court will hear the FDA’s fight against flavored vapes and consider whether its block is unlawful. Depending on their ruling, the marketing and sale of flavored nicotine products could potentially change going forward.
