Oppose the authorization of flavored vapes

Following a rapid rise in youth vaping rates starting around 2017, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned flavored e-cigarette products in 2019. Youth vaping rates dropped dramatically after, with the percentage of high school students reporting current vaping falling from a peak of 27.5% in 2019 to 7.8% in 2024.

Since then, the FDA has authorized 41 vape products for sale. These products are all tobacco- and menthol-flavored – the two flavors not included in the federal ban.

Now, the FDA is opening the door for e-cigarette (vape) manufacturers to seek authorization for products in other flavors, such as coffees, teas, and spices. While the FDA says fruit, candy, and other dessert/sweet flavors remain too risky, it suggests that these other flavors may be less appealing to youth and help adults who smoke cigarettes switch to e-cigarettes, broadly considered a less harmful class of products.

But authorizing vapes in these flavors could pose a serious risk to youth, who find flavored products appealing and may be more likely to initiate nicotine use, develop addiction, and face other negative health outcomes as a result (for more on how vaping affects young people, see drugfree.org/drugs/vaping). Authorizing these products will increase availability and access for young people, minimize perceptions of harm, and further normalize use.

There has been major progress in recent years in reducing youth vaping, but introducing new flavored products could reverse that.

Check out the key research-based points and data you can include in your comment below. Then, head here to write your comment to the FDA.

Note that while we typically offer exact language to submit for action alerts/letters to policymakers, the government portal for submitting regulatory comments explicitly states that agencies may not consider duplicate or form letters. To maximize the impact you can have on their decision making, please take the time to create your own letter, but feel free to use some of the points below.

Here are some potential points you can choose from to include in your comment, alongside any other information you may have from personal experience or expertise:

• Your connection to the issue (e.g., a parent who is concerned about their children having access to vaping products, a teacher or other person working with young people who has seen an increase in vaping among young people, a clinician or addiction professional concerned about the risks of vaping for children, etc.) and how this loosening of the flavor ban could affect you or those you care for.
• Flavored nicotine products are appealing to kids. The FDA says it remains concerned about the risk associated with youth-appealing flavors, highlighting fruit, candy/dessert, and other sweet flavors. But young people would also find coffee, tea, spice (e.g., cinnamon, vanilla, clove), and other flavors appealing.
  • This is a problem because research shows that flavors make young people more likely to start using nicotine. Nicotine is concerning because it is extremely addictive and can have negative outcomes such as harming the parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood and impulse control; causing damage to the nervous, cardiovascular, respiratory, and reproductive systems; and increasing the risk of cigarette smoking and other substance use, including marijuana.
  • Nearly 90% of youth who use e-cigarettes use flavored e-cigarettes. This includes not just fruit and candy/desserts/other sweets, but also flavors like mint and menthol, which about 40% of students who use e-cigarettes report using. Nearly 12% of students who currently use e-cigarettes report using nonalcoholic drink-flavored products (such as coffee), and over 6% reported using spice-flavored products (such as cinnamon, vanilla, or clove). These flavors are similar to those found in popular nicotine pouches, with 10% of students who use the pouches reporting using spice-flavored products (more than used candy/dessert/other sweets flavors) and 7.5% using nonalcoholic drink-flavored products (coffee, soda, lemonade, etc.).
  • Three-quarters of adolescents and young adults who use flavored tobacco products say they would no longer use the product if it was not flavored.
  • “It tastes good” is among the top reasons students say they vape nicotine.
• Authorizing flavored products creates additional risks for young people.
  • In 2024, only around half of 12th-graders saw great risk from vaping nicotine regularly, and around two-thirds said it would be easy to get vaping devices and flavored nicotine vaping liquids. Young people already have easy access to flavored vaping products due to widely available illegal products. But the FDA authorizing them for sale would further increase their availability and access, while minimizing perceptions of harm and normalizing use.
  • While manufacturers will still have to weigh the benefits to adults against the added risks to youth of the new products, concerns remain about opening the door to flavored products and ensuring that this risk/benefit calculation is done appropriately to adequately protect young people.
• Flavors pose other risks, aside from increasing the risk of nicotine use initiation, that are critical to consider.
  • Flavors mask the unpleasant taste and sensation associated with nicotine and can make e-cigarettes easier for young people to inhale, increasing the amount consumed and the risk of addiction.
  • Some flavors can be toxic, for both children and adults. The chemicals that make up the flavors in vaping products are unhealthy when inhaled, and flavors including cinnamon, clove, and vanilla are among the most harmful.
  • Flavors can increase the risk of accidental ingestion and poisoning in young children because the products are more likely to be appealing, and children are more likely to ingest greater quantities if they like the flavor.
• Less evidence does not mean less risk.
  • The FDA notes that there is less evidence available on youth appeal of these flavors. While population-level trend and preference data can be considered as part of the risk/benefit analysis for authorization, surveys showing that fewer young people use these flavors than fruit/candy flavors do not prove that they are not too high a risk. Just because these flavors are used less by young people than fruit/candy flavors does not mean that they are not appealing; if they were authorized and more available, they likely would encourage more young people to start vaping.
  • Young people are likely to shift to whatever flavors are available on the market. For example, after other flavored products were banned, youth use of mint and menthol flavors increased by 50% and remain among the most used flavors by youth.
• Following the restrictions placed on flavored vapes in 2019, youth vaping has significantly declined. We should work to further this progress, not risk undermining or reversing it.
  • The percentage of high school students reporting current vaping fell from a peak of 27.5% in 2019 to 7.8% in 2024.
• The guidance is particularly concerning given other recent actions that limit tobacco prevention and control efforts that could have protected young people.
  • Nicotine pouches (e.g., Zyn) are becoming increasingly popular among youth, and the FDA recently authorized the sale of these pouches in flavors like coffee, mint, and citrus.
  • Last year, the administration withdrew proposed rules that would have banned menthol in cigarettes and reduced the allowable levels of nicotine in cigarettes.
  • Budget and staffing cuts last year have effectively shuttered the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Office on Smoking and Health, which has been instrumental in driving down smoking rates and preventing youth tobacco use and addiction. This Office within the CDC provided key data tracking youth tobacco use, supported state smoking prevention programs, and ran quitlines to help people quit smoking and other nicotine product use.
• There is little evidence suggesting that flavored e-cigarettes are more effective than tobacco-flavored ones at helping adults who smoke to quit.
  • While some research does suggest that a wider range of e-cigarette flavors may appeal to adults who smoke, evidence does not suggest that the availability of more flavors would make people switch from cigarettes to e-cigarettes or stop smoking in the long-term.
  • Many people who use e-cigarettes also use cigarettes. And research suggests that this dual use often does not lead to full nicotine cessation, with most dual users transitioning to exclusive smoking or continuing to use both cigarettes and e-cigarettes.
  • Even if it’s better than smoking, vaping is not harmless. In addition to nicotine, which is itself harmful, e-cigarette aerosol contains dangerous chemicals and heavy metals that are inhaled, and many studies point to the link between vaping and respiratory, cardiovascular, and other health problems.