Regulation and Products

We are working to ensure the law granting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate all tobacco products, including cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars and hookah is fully leveraged to protect children and adults.  

Regulation and Products Resources:

The U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Surgeon General, and Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have all declared youth e-cigarette use to be an epidemic. E-cigarettes are the most used tobacco product among youth and, like any tobacco product, are unsafe. E-cigarette use is also most common among younger adults. Action is urgently needed to reverse these dangerous trends.

The undersigned organizations write to express our concern that FDA has yet to issue any decisions on applications for marketing orders for menthol-flavored e-cigarettes or e-liquid products. We believe granting any such orders would be inconsistent with the agency’s marketing denial orders for other non-tobacco flavored products and would be harmful to public health, particularly to the health of young people.

While overall smoking rates have declined in recent years, smoking rates remain higher among specific subpopulations, including the LGBTQ+ community. These differences are in large part due to the tobacco industry’s targeted marketing through advertising, price discounting and other strategies.

While overall smoking rates have declined in recent years, smoking rates remain higher among specific subpopulations, including African Americans. These differences are in large part due to the tobacco industry’s targeted marketing through advertising, price discounting and other strategies.

High rates of menthol cigarette use is the result of deliberate actions by the tobacco industry to target certain populations. Decades of tobacco industry documents show how the tobacco industry targeted Black Americans, as well as LGBTQ+ and low-income communities with menthol cigarettes.

Cigars are tobacco wrapped in tobacco leaf or wrapped in a substance containing tobacco leaf. They can come in all shapes and sizes. One study found that the sales of cigarillos - which comprise most cigar sales - increased from 2016 to 2020 while their prices decreased. Lower prices can make tobacco products more attractive to youth because they are price sensitive. The study also found a significant increase in the sales of certain flavored cigarillos and large cigars.

Among adults who currently smoke cigars, those who used flavored products were more likely to be non-Hispanic Black individuals, younger, and have lower household incomes.

Flavors are a marketing ploy tobacco manufacturers use to target youth and young people to a lifetime of addiction. Adding flavors can improve the ease of use of a product by masking harsh effects, facilitating nicotine uptake, and increasing a product’s overall appeal.

This factsheet provides highlights of key studies demonstrating that flavored tobacco product sales restrictions can reduce tobacco product availability, sales, retailer advertising, and use rates. Equally important, the enforcement of these policies is critical to their effectiveness.

This factsheet provides an overview of key activities by the FDA on menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.