The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) first authorization of fruit-flavored vapes should have marked the beginning of a real change. One that gives adult legal access to lower-risk flavored alternatives to cigarettes. Instead, the FDA paired that approval with invasive biometric monitoring. The biggest obstacle standing between smokers and the products to help them quit is the FDA’s misguided view that flavored vapes are uniquely dangerous.
Despite a large and growing body of research showing that vaping is far less harmful than smoking combustible cigarettes, federal policy treats vapes—especially flavored vapes—as categorically suspect while approving more than 100 new cigarettes each year. The FDA’s recent decision to authorize two fruit flavored Glas products, should have opened the door to a more rational system, but instead, the agency undercuts that progress with extreme, paternalistic, and invasive restrictions, including smartphone pairing and recurring identity checks.
Rather than the traditional age verification system for tobacco products which happens at the point of purchase, the FDA instead chose a pathway that monitors consumers after purchase. Glas users must pair the device with a smartphone over Bluetooth, keep the device connected to the phone for it to function, and periodically submit a photo to prove who is using the device. That turns a simple retail transaction into ongoing monitoring of adults who just want a lower-risk alternative to cigarettes. Ongoing biometric monitoring and device locks punish lawful adult consumers by making safer products more invasive, less convenient, and less attractive than the cigarettes they are trying to replace.\
Justin Leventhal is a Senior Policy Analyst for the American Consumer Institute, a nonprofit education and research organization that advocates for consumers through evidence-based analysis and data. Follow Justin on X @JustinLeventhal