The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week announced that it is reevaluating its approach to approving nicotine products such as vapes and pouches. The Wall Street Journal reports that FDA officials want to "smooth the way for more tobacco products such as flavored vapes to legally enter the market by changing the rules to speed up the authorization process."
That is good news for manufacturers of nicotine products, who for years have struggled with regulatory bottlenecks, burdensome requirements that do not apply to cigarettes, and long delays in processing their applications for "premarket" approval. It is also good news for current and former cigarette smokers, promising to preserve their access to a wide variety of alternatives that are far less hazardous than combusted tobacco.
