31 Attorneys General Ask for FDA to Ban Synthetics

A bipartisan coalition of 31 attorneys general are calling on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to reject marketing authorization for all non-tobacco nicotine products, which are currently being sold without regulation of their contents, manufacturing, health effects, required warning labels or marketing claims.

In a letter to the agency, the coalition argues that these products currently don’t meet the FDA’s public health standard, and the regulatory agency should not gamble on the unknown effects of the products. The letter specifically calls for the FDA to reject a request by product manufacturers to grant marketing authorization for non-tobacco nicotine products.

The letter also insists that if the agency does grant marketing authorizations for these products, it imposes the same restrictions required of tobacco-derived nicotine products including a ban on all products with a flavor other than tobacco and strict regulatory requirements regarding their contents, manufacturing, and effect on users’ health.

Products should carry warnings concerning their addictiveness, and manufacturers should be required to validate health claims made about their products, including claims that a product is safer than tobacco.

“E-cigarettes containing synthetic nicotine and other synthetic nicotine products are putting our kids’ health at risk,” said North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein. “The FDA has the power to do more to protect them, and I hope it takes action to prohibit manufacturers and retailers from marketing and selling to young people, using youth-friendly flavors, and putting exorbitant amounts of nicotine in these products, especially because we don’t yet know how dangerous these products are. I appreciate that the FDA has started taking some steps, but it must do more to rein in this industry and keep our kids safe.”