On Monday, December 2nd, the Supreme Court will examine if The Food and Drug Administration has unlawfully denied the marketing of sweet and candy flavored products by the FDA’s request, following a spike in youth e-cigarette use.

The Food and Drug Administration has denied over a million marketing and sales of sweet flavored and candy flavored nicotine products over the past few years, driving teen vaping rates down tremendously.

According to an ABC News article written by Devin Dwyer, “While vaping among youth is declining, more than 1.6 million children use the products, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 90% of them consume illicit flavored brands” (Dwyer, December 2nd).

The FDA was sued by two manufacturers of nicotine-laced e-liquids such as “Jimmy the Juice Man Peachy Strawberry” and “Iced Pineapple Express” after being their product being denied, supposedly regulators impose unclear and unreasonable requirements to win approval.

Vaping companies claim that the agency unfairly ignored arguments that the sweet e-liquid products help adults quit smoking standard cigarettes, putting children at a lesser risk. The ABC News article also states that, “flavors are crucial to getting adult smokers to make the switch and stay away from combustible cigarettes”(Dwyer December 2nd).

The FDA is slow to regulate the multibillion dollar vaping market, years  into the crackdown of these flavored vapes are illegal but widely available.

According to a New York Post article, “The marketing refusals combined with age-limit enforcement on the federal and state levels have helped drive down youth nicotine use to its lowest level in a decade, said Dennis Henigan, vice president for legal and regulatory affairs at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids” (Associated Press, Nov 28th).

This case, Food and DRug Administration v. Wages and White Lions Investments, LLC, will be ruled on by the end of the Supreme Court’s term in June 2025.