The Trump administration wants to make it easier for flavored vapes, nicotine pouches and other newer tobacco products to reach shelves legally, as the Wall Street Journal’s Liz Essley Whyte and Laura Cooper report. The FDA is expected to announce soon that it will revisit a 2021 rule spelling out what scientific evidence companies must submit for authorization, people familiar with the matter said.
Options include simplifying study requirements and speeding reviews — a big deal for vapes and pouches, which can’t use the simplified path open to cigarettes. Companies have long griped that reviews meant to take about six months drag on for years.
“The Trump administration is committed to keeping nicotine out of the hands of kids, getting counterfeit vaping products off the streets, and providing safer alternatives for adults who want to quit smoking cigarettes,” an HHS spokeswoman said. Industry argues a robust legal market would crowd out illicit Chinese vapes; public-health groups counter that flavors lure kids.
It’s a reversal from Trump’s first term, when the FDA banned fruit-flavored vapes. This month, a group including Altria-owned NJOY sued over the 2021 rule, blaming an “insurmountable logjam” of applications. In May, the FDA let most products be sold before full scientific review, drawing a lawsuit from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
Mitch Zeller, the former FDA tobacco center director who helped write the rule, is skeptical. “The solution to the massive problem of illicit flavored vapes today is the right kind of enforcement action, not new policy that lowers the evidentiary bar to get more flavored products authorized,” he said.
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Lawmakers from both parties have bristled at approvals of flavors like blueberry and mango. “That only makes vaping more attractive to young people,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). Expect fireworks at Thursday’s confirmation hearing for Dr. Heidi Overton, Trump’s FDA nominee. Her predecessor, Dr. Marty Makary, clashed with the White House over flavored tobacco before resigning under pressure.
