Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) released the following statement today after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it has authorized the marketing of three new tobacco products, marking the first set of electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) products ever to be authorized by FDA through the Premarket Tobacco Product Application (PMTA) pathway:
“The United States is in the middle of a youth tobacco epidemic that has been driven in large part by flavored e-cigarette products that hook kids and teens into a cycle of nicotine addiction. This is a public health crisis that continues to demand our attention and action before we lose another generation of young people to a lifetime of tobacco and nicotine addiction.
“While I am pleased that FDA denied requests by the manufacturer to market certain flavors, I remain concerned given this product’s popularity with youth, as recently noted in the 2021 National Youth Tobacco Survey. I urge FDA to move swiftly on the other pending premarket review applications before the agency."
Pallone is the author of the Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act, which passed in the House of Representatives in February 2020. The comprehensive legislation would prohibit all flavored tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, ban most non-face-to-face sales for tobacco products, and better protect kids from the marketing of tobacco products.
