The US Supreme Court has dismissed a Mississippi vape shop’s challenge to limit the FDA’s regulatory authority over electronic cigarettes and vaping devices. According to Bloomberg news, the court’s decision means the FDA retains authority to regulate the industry under the 2009 Tobacco Control Act, which includes cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and other “tobacco products.”
The fight turned on the 2009 law that gave the FDA broad authority to regulate tobacco by letting the agency restrict ingredients, limit advertising to young people, and block the sale of new products. The law, known as the Tobacco Control Act, explicitly covered cigarettes and smokeless tobacco and said the FDA could bring other “tobacco products” within its ambit.
In 2016 the FDA said it would start regulating virtually everything that met the law’s definition of “tobacco products,” including e-cigarettes, vape pens, cigars, and hookah.
In their appeal, Big Time Vapes Inc. and the United States Vaping Association said Congress violated the Constitution by giving the FDA such an open-ended grant of authority.
