E-cigarettes have been proven to help smokers quit, but that’s not stopping the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from blocking the marketing of the products under the baseless claim that they may increase smoking among young people. This week, the Goldwater Institute filed a brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the FDA’s actions and ensure that adults can safely purchase e-cigarettes.
Beginning in 2021, the FDA shut down more than one million applications to market fruit- or candy-flavored e-cigarettes. However, in restricting the marketing of those products, the FDA effectively blocked adults from accessing the most important cessation tools for smokers who want to quit and transition to healthier alternatives. Goldwater’s brief highlights the extensive body of scientific literature demonstrating the harm-reduction benefits of e-cigarettes, particularly for vulnerable populations who need these life rafts to recovery the most.
Unlike traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes vaporize liquid instead of burning tobacco, and they don’t produce carbon monoxide. That makes them safer for consumers, as has been proven by hundreds of studies. In fact, a panel of international experts ranked e-cigarettes’ safety just ahead of nicotine patches and gum—demonstrating that they are 95% less harmful than conventional cigarettes. They are so safe, in fact, that smokers who transition to e-cigarettes for just one year reflect similar levels of toxicants in their urine to those who have never used tobacco products.
Fortunately for those who can’t knock their nicotine habit, e-cigarettes have been proven to be one of the most successful cessation methods on the market, because they replicate many of the physical actions associated with conventional smoking. An article published by Harvard Medical School analyzed 61 studies and found that e-cigarette use was nearly two times or more effective than other approaches to quitting smoking. Moreover, having a variety of flavor options is critical. Research has shown that users of sweet-flavored e-cigarettes are 43% more likely to quit smoking than users of tobacco-flavored or unflavored products.
Despite the many benefits of e-cigarettes and their potential to help transition millions of smokers (even pregnant women) away from conventional smoking, the FDA’s failure to regulate and authorize harm reduction alternatives for companies that play by the rules has not only opened the floodgates to foreign players selling illicit and unsafe products, but it’s also diminished the ability of e-cigarettes to help the estimated 28 million Americans who smoke.
In one 2021 news release, the FDA appeared to change its tune, suggesting that the benefits of e-cigarettes for helping adult smokers reduce or eliminate their use of cigarettes offsets the risk they may pose, particularly for younger populations. Despite its claim, the FDA’s tug-of-war relationship with e-cigarettes has already undermined major public health strategies against conventional smoking.
The Supreme Court should hold the FDA accountable for imposing arbitrary roadblocks, and open the door to products that follow the rules. This will ensure a healthier e-vapor market while simultaneously helping more and more Americans quit and transition away from conventional cigarettes.
You can read our brief here.
Amanda Hagerman is a Senior Policy and Research Analyst at the Goldwater Institute.
