Supreme Court to hear arguments on flavored vape regulations imposed after youth vaping spike

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will hear a vaping case on Monday, weighing federal regulators’ decisions blocking sweet vaping products after e-cigarette use spiked among kids.

The high court is taking up an appeal from the Food and Drug Administration, which has denied more than a million applications to sell candy- or fruit-flavored products that appeal to kids.

Those decisions are part of a crackdown that anti-tobacco advocates say helped drive down youth vaping to a decade low after an “epidemic level” peak in 2019.

But vaping companies pushed back in court, arguing that agency unfairly disregarded arguments that their sweet e-liquid products aren’t a big draw for kids but would help adults quit smoking traditional cigarettes.

The case comes shortly before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, whose incoming administration could take a different approach after he vowed in a September social-media post to “save” vaping.

Several lower courts rebuffed vaping company lawsuits, but the Dallas-based company Triton Distribution won at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The court tossed out a decision blocking the sale of nicotine-laced liquids like “Jimmy The Juice Man in Peachy Strawberry” that are heated by an e-cigarette to create an inhalable aerosol.

The FDA was slow to regulate the now multibillion-dollar vaping market, and even years into the crackdown flavored vapes that are technically illegal nevertheless remain widely available.

The agency has approved some tobacco-flavored vapes, and recently allowed its first menthol-flavored electronic cigarettes for adult smokers.

The block on sweet vapes, combined with stepped up enforcement, has helped drive down youth nicotine use to its lowest level in a decade, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said.

Lindsay Whitehurst, The Associated Press