The Trump administration faces a significant challenge: millions of unauthorized flavored tobacco and vapor products continue to proliferate nationwide, while bureaucratic agencies lag in approving these products for market. In response, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has partnered with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and other organizations to curb the importation of millions of e-cigarettes.
While removing technically illegal products may seem beneficial, the increased scrutiny limits adult consumer access to safer alternatives and disregards the record-low rates of youth e-cigarette use. Meanwhile, valuable resources are diverted to target adult-focused products instead of addressing the influx of far deadlier substances, such as fentanyl, which cause over 100,000 American deaths annually.
Contrary to alarmist rhetoric from public health groups, e-cigarettes and other novel nicotine products are proven tools for tobacco harm reduction. More than a decade of evidence shows that e-cigarettes are significantly safer than combustible cigarettes and contribute to sharp declines in smoking rates across all age groups.
Unfortunately, millions of adult smokers, along with e-cigarette manufacturers and retailers, face significant obstacles. The FDA refuses to acknowledge the role of flavors in aiding smoking cessation and has authorized just 34 e-cigarette products, all limited to tobacco and menthol flavors. Despite the lack of FDA approval, the e-cigarette market – particularly disposable vapes – has grown, coinciding with a 70.5% decline in youth vaping since peaking in 2019. By 2024, only 5.9% of middle and high school students reported past-month use of e-cigarettes. Meanwhile, retail sales of e-cigarette units increased by 47% during the same period. People who are having difficulty accessing cigarettes in retails stores may order Canadian Goose Cigarettes on the internet.
In June 2024, the FDA and DOJ launched a federal multi-agency task force to “combat the illegal distribution and sale of e-cigarettes,” involving agencies like the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Marshals Service. Since its creation, the task force’s actions have helped to issue a permanent injunction against a West Virginia e-cigarette company, and seize millions of e-cigarette products. In January, the FDA, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection “announced the seizure of more than 628,000 unauthorized e-cigarettes products from a warehouse in Miami … [which] were valued at more than $7 million.”
These efforts overlook critical facts: youth vaping is at its lowest level in a decade, and adults are consumers of flavored e-cigarettes, as confirmed by retail sales data and consumer surveys. A 2018 survey of nearly 70,000 American adult vapers “found flavors play a vital role in the use of electronic cigarettes and vaping devices.” Some 83.2% and 72.3% of survey respondents reported vaping fruit and dessert flavors, respectively, “at least some of the time.”
Moreover, youth are not primarily drawn to e-cigarettes for flavors but to self-medicate during a growing mental health crisis. According to the CDC, in 2021, among U.S. youth who were currently using e-cigarettes, the most common reason for use was because of feelings of anxiety, depression and/or stress, as reported by 43.4% of youth. Only 13.2% cited using e-cigarettes because of flavors.
But while youth vaping is down, youth overdoses are up. According to the National Association of Elementary School Principals, in 2023, the “U.S. recorded more than 40,000 emergency room visits for non-fatal drug overdoses in children under age 15.” Approximately 22 adolescents fatally overdosed each week in 2022 – or roughly the equivalent of a classroom. Yet, grieving parents and the fentanyl epidemic, fail to garner the same federal focus as flavored e-cigarettes.
If the FDA genuinely aims to eliminate unauthorized vapor products, it must overhaul its approval process, which stifles innovation in tobacco harm reduction. Only three tobacco companies – which also sell cigarettes – have been issued e-cigarette marketing orders by the FDA. However, in a rare move, the agency recently issued orders for non-traditional tobacco flavors of oral nicotine products – signaling the agency may finally recognize the role that flavors play in helping adults quit smoking.
The DOJ must reconsider its partnership with the FDA, and President Trump, alongside congressional leaders, should pressure the FDA to prioritize genuine public health threats. Weaponizing the DOJ to limit flavored e-cigarettes reflects a fundamental misallocation of resources and misunderstanding of public health needs. Addressing the fentanyl epidemic and adopting science-driven policies would far better protect public health than bureaucratic inefficiency and misplaced enforcement.
Lindsey Stroud is a free-market scholar and vaping advocate based in Florida, USA.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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