Juul cans are seen on the shelf at Empire Smoke Shop on December 07, 2022 in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
The Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that it has rescinded its ban on Juul e-cigarettes while it reviews new court decisions and considers updated information provided by the e-cigarette maker.
The US Food and Drug Administration first ordered the company to stop selling its products in 2022, but they have remained on shelves pending an appeal. Juul maintained its position as the No. 2 e-cigarette maker in the United States during this time.
Now, the FDA says Juul products are back under review by the agency — though it emphasized that this new status was not an indication that they would be fully cleared.
She said federal laws prevent her from revealing additional information.
Juul became one of the biggest successes of the initial e-cigarette boom more than a decade ago. This success has been influenced by concerns that e-cigarettes are exposing a new generation of people to nicotine addiction. Vaping peaked at nearly 28% among all high school students in 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While Juul has since entered a period of financial austerity, sales of e-cigarettes and other nicotine replacement products have continued to grow.
Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that e-cigarette use increased nearly 50% between January 2020 and December 2022. During that period, Juul was second only to Vuse among e-cigarette brands, the agency said.
Now there are signs that the growth of e-cigarettes has surpassed smokeless tobacco products.
Philip Morris, which now owns nicotine pouch maker Zyn, recently reported that its smokeless category increased 21% from last year and that it now represents nearly 40% of the company's total revenue, Barron's reported.
Juul said in a statement that it appreciates the FDA's recent decision, adding that it now looks forward to “re-engaging with the agency on a science- and evidence-based process for obtaining marketing authorization” for its products.
“We remain confident in the quality and substance of our applications and believe that a full review of the science and evidence will demonstrate that our products meet the legal standards for being suitable to protect public health,” the company said.
Even as Juul continues its appeal of the 2022 ban, the FDA's initial ruling has significantly disrupted the company's finances, prompting two of its largest investors to bail out, the Wall Street Journal reported.
To date, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given only 23 e-cigarette products, made by only three companies, formal approval to be marketed to consumers.
