Attorney General Tong Leads Coalition Urging FDA to Reverse Guidance Easing Sales of Flavored E-Cigarettes

05/11/2026

(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong Monday led a bipartisan coalition of 21 attorneys general urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to abandon draft guidance that would ease approvals for flavored e-cigarette products, widely understood to disproportionately worsen youth addiction.

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Two months ago, on March 11, FDA released draft guidance that would ignore years of evidence and ease the path to approval for certain flavored products.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In their letter, the attorneys general urge FDA to reconsider the draft guidance and to continue its careful scrutiny of all flavors to protect public health.
“FDA has failed to do its job for decades. They looked the other way as the market flooded with thousands of unauthorized flavored e-cigarettes, resulting in a new generation of addicted youth. Now, they are opening the door to approving certain flavors that they claim, without evidence, are less harmful to youth. FDA needs to stand up to Big Tobacco, do its job, and protect public health by abandoning this guidance,” said Attorney General Tong.

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 Tong led 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.

Attorney General Tong led today’s letter, joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, 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.

Assistant Attorney General Amor Rosario assisted Attorney General Tong in this matter.

Twitter: @AGWilliamTong

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Elizabeth Benton
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