Attorney General Mayes Urges FDA to Reverse Guidance Easing Sales of Flavored E-Cigarettes

PHOENIX – Attorney General Kris Mayes today joined a bipartisan coalition of 21 attorneys general urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to abandon draft guidance that would ease approvals for flavored e-cigarette products, widely understood to disproportionately worsen youth addiction.

"Flavored e-cigarettes are a direct pipeline to youth nicotine addiction, and the FDA's move to ease approvals for these products is a major step in the wrong direction,” said Attorney General Mayes. “An agency shouldn’t ignore its own science to make it easier for the tobacco industry to hook a new generation on nicotine. I'm proud to stand with attorneys general across the country in calling on the FDA to reverse course and put children's health first."

Federal law requires that all e-cigarette products receive authorization from the FDA before they can be legally marketed or sold in the United States. To date, the FDA has authorized only 45 e-cigarette products. Until May 5, 2026, FDA had approved no flavors other than tobacco or menthol. However, just six days before today's comment deadline, the FDA approved two fruit flavored products. Despite such limited authorization, hundreds of thousands of e-cigarette varieties in multitudes of flavors are currently available for purchase in flagrant violation of state and federal laws. Compounding their previous failures, on May 8, the FDA issued a press release announcing it would not prioritize enforcement against vapes and nicotine pouches marketed without necessary FDA authorization.

Two months ago, on March 11, FDA released draft guidance that would ignore years of evidence and ease the path to approval for certain flavored products. The guidance opines, ignoring FDA's own science and history, that certain flavors such as coffees, tea, spices, menthol and mint are "lower risk" flavors for youth addiction. In reality, extensive research shows that flavored products of all kinds are favored by youth over unflavored tobacco.

In their letter, the attorneys general urge FDA to reconsider the draft guidance and to continue its careful scrutiny of all flavors to protect public health.

Attorneys general have long been at the forefront of efforts to curb youth addiction. In 1998, attorneys general from 52 states and territories reached a settlement with the four largest tobacco companies, settling suits filed by dozens of states and imposing strong new restrictions on tobacco advertising and marketing practices, including prohibitions on billboards, cartoons, branded merchandise, and sports sponsorships. The companies were forced to eliminate practices that obscured tobacco's health risks and were required to establish and fund the Truth Initiative, an advocacy organization dedicated to "achieving a culture where all youth and young adults reject tobacco."

The settlement directs payments to the states and territories in perpetuity so long as cigarettes are sold by tobacco companies participating in the agreement.

In 2022, Attorney General Mayes joined 34 states and territories in reaching a $438.5 million agreement with JUUL Labs, resolving a two-year bipartisan investigation into the e-cigarette manufacturer's marketing and sales practices. In addition to the financial terms, the settlement forced JUUL to comply with a series of strict injunctive terms severely limiting their marketing and sales practices.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong led today's letter, joined by AG Mayes and the attorneys general California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin.