The vaping industry took a hit Wednesday with a unanimous Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Food and Drug Administration. The justices upheld the FDA's refusal to approve flavored e-cigarettes, NBC News reports. "The kaleidoscope of flavor options adds to the allure of e-cigarettes and has thus contributed to the booming demand for such products among young Americans," wrote Justice Samuel Alito. Vape companies argued that the agency unlawfully changed its rules in the middle of the approval process, but justices appeared skeptical of that argument when they heard the case in December.
The court ruled that the FDA acted lawfully when it rejected an application from Trition Distribution, which sells e-juices with flavors like "Suicide Bunny Mother's Milk and Cookies," the AP reports. The agency has approved some tobacco and menthol-flavored vapes that could help adults quit smoking, but it has rejected applications for more than a million flavored products. One aspect of the case, whether the FDA should have considered marketing plans as part of the approval process, will be sent back to a lower court for consideration, meaning there could still be a ruling in favor of Triton, reports the AP.
Advocates praised the ruling as a major victory in the fight to stop nicotine addiction among young people. But the decision comes at what the New York Times calls a "fraught turning point" for the FDA. Government cuts have hit the agency's tobacco division hard. Its director, Brian King, was offered a position in the Indian Health Service in Alaska or New Mexico, which the Times describes as a "tacit ouster." Erika Sward at the American Lung Association praised Wednesday's ruling, but said that with the cuts, there is "no one to keep the tobacco industry from flooding the market with its deadly products and no one left to count how many kids they addict." (During his campaign, President Trump promised to "save" vaping after meeting with an industry lobbyist.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
