The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hints that it may increase its nicotine regulations after electronic cigarette enterprise, Juul Labs, Inc. hooked a generation on vaping. 

Last month, the FDA ordered all currently marketed Juul products to be removed from the U.S. market. The agency determined there is not enough evidence to “assess the potential toxicological risks of using the Juul products.” After Juul appealed, the FDA suspended the order blocking the ban temporarily.

This isn’t the first time Juul Labs, Inc. has been in hot water. The vaping company that insists it never marketed its products to children, purchased ad space on numerous youth-focused websites, according to a lawsuit filed by the Massachusetts attorney general back in 2020. In 2021, 7 of 10 middle school and high school students—roughly 17.7 million children—said they had seen e-cigarette advertising. 

In addition to the FDA’s crackdown on electronic vaping, the FDA announced plans to reduce the maximum nicotine level in cigarettes. Each year, 480,000 people die prematurely from smoking-related diseases costing nearly $300 billion a year in direct health care. This makes tobacco use the leading cause of preventable illness and death in the United States.

“Nicotine is powerfully addictive,” said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D. “Making cigarettes and other combusted tobacco products minimally addictive or non-addictive would help save lives.” 

Several potential regulatory actions were recently published in the Spring 2022 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. This regulatory push is part of a wide-ranging effort to reduce youth tobacco use, illnesses, and deaths.

As new electronic cigarette brands attempt to pick up Juul’s declining market share, G2 will continue to closely monitor changes to nicotine regulations that could affect payment providers. 

If you have any questions, please email info@g2llc.com. In addition, you can download our recently updated Drug Watch List here.