On Sept. 9, the Food and Drug Administration postponed a decision on whether many tobacco products that entered the market since 2007, including flavored e-cigarettes, can be sold. In a statement, the FDA said it has denied marketing applications for nearly 1 million flavored e-cigarettes because companies did not provide enough evidence that any potential benefits for adult smokers exceeded “the public health threat posed by the well-documented, alarming levels of youth use of such products.” But the FDA said it has yet to complete its review of remaining applications, including those from Juul, which is very popular with youth. The agency said it expects to take “additional actions in the coming weeks.” Read the Washington Post story. See the response from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

ASPiRE’s many resources about this topic include fact sheets that discuss tobacco product sales in CAB cities, research about e-cigarette availability and price, and findings about e-cigarette use among adults. These resources can be used to help explain the issues to local policy makers.