Juul gets FDA approval to keep selling e-cigarettes
Ban on certain e-cig cartridge flavors goes into effect nationwide
The policy applies to cartridge-based e-cigarette flavors including fruit, candy, mint and dessert flavors. Menthol and tobacco-flavors are exempt, in addition to other kinds of vaping products.
The Food and Drug Administration has authorized vaping brand Juul to keep its e-cigarettes on the market, a major reversal after the agency temporarily banned the company’s products in 2022.
The FDA decision applies to both tobacco- and menthol-flavored versions of the reusable product, which works with nicotine-filled cartridges sold in two different strengths. Juul previously discontinued several fruit and candy flavors that helped drive its popularity but were favored by teens.
Juul will be one of only two U.S. companies authorized to sell menthol-flavored vapes, which many adults prefer to tobacco flavor.
Juul gets FDA’s OK to keep selling tobacco and menthol e-cigarettes
What they're saying:
The FDA said Thursday that the decision followed an extensive scientific review, demonstrating that the products meet the legal standard set by the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act to market new tobacco products in the United States.
FDA regulators added that Juul’s studies show its e-cigarettes are less harmful for adult smokers, who can benefit from switching completely to vaping.
Juul products are displayed at Smoke and Gift Shop (Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Despite this, the FDA reiterated that the announcement was not an approval or endorsement of the products.
"While today’s actions permit these specific e-cigarette products to be legally marketed in the U.S. to adults 21 and older, it does not mean these tobacco products are safe, nor are they ‘FDA approved,’" the agency said in its announcement. "There is no safe tobacco product. Those who do not currently use tobacco products should not start. Youth should never use tobacco products."
The decision to approve continued sale of Juul products
What they're saying:
"This is an important milestone for the company and I think we made a scientifically sound case for the role that menthol can play in e-vapor," Juul CEO K.C. Crosthwaite told The Associated Press.
"It’s critically important that American adults who use tobacco have regulated options," Crosthwaite said.
The other side:
Meanwhile, many parents, politicians and anti-tobacco groups oppose FDA’s decision. They have argued for years that Juul products should be permanently banned due to their role in triggering a yearslong spike in underage vaping.
"The FDA's decision to authorize the sale of Juul e-cigarettes, including menthol-flavored products, risks a reversal of recent progress in reducing youth e-cigarette use," Yolonda C. Richardson, the president and CEO of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said in a statement on July 17. "It is a big step in the wrong direction to authorize sales of the product that was responsible for this public health crisis in the first place. There is no question that this crisis was driven by Juul's sleek, easy-to-hide products, which were sold in enticing flavors, including menthol, were marketed in ways that appeal to kids and delivered massive doses of nicotine that can quickly addict kids."
National nonprofit public health organization Truth Initiative also said in a statement, "Today's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decision to authorize the marketing of tobacco and menthol-flavored JUUL e-cigarette products underscores the need for continued vigilance in protecting young people from nicotine initiation and addiction" .
Dig deeper:
The decision ends three years of limbo after the federal regulator banned the company's products in 2022, then paused the ban pending further scientific review. The company’s fruit-flavored products remain banned.
Juul was once valued at over $13 billion and its small, sleek e-cigarettes revolutionized the image and technology of the vaping industry. But the company has since been forced to slash hundreds of jobs and pay billions to settle lawsuits over its role in the rise of youth vaping.
Isn't vaping supposed to be better than cigarettes?
Big picture view:
E-cigarettes first appeared in the U.S. more than a decade ago with the promise of providing smokers a less harmful alternative. The devices heat a nicotine solution into a vapor that’s inhaled, bypassing many of the toxic chemicals produced by burning tobacco.
But studies have reached conflicting results about whether they truly help smokers quit.
RELATED: Study: Vaping causes more inflammation in lungs than regular cigarettes
According to the study, published in 2023 in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine, researchers found significantly more inflammation in the lungs of people who used e-cigarettes than people who smoke regular cigarettes and non-smokers.
The researchers said people who vape are met with a unique set of risk factors setting them apart from regular cigarette smokers. The study authors warned that vaping in particular can "cause pulmonary inflammation and increase the risk of lung disease."
The Source: This story was reported from Los Angeles. The Associated Press, PR Newswire, previous FOX Local reporting contributed.