For years, the public health message on flavored vaping products was clear: these products are dangerous for young people, the science supports tighter restrictions, and the regulatory direction was moving in only one direction. That clarity was working. Under the previous administration, the FDA denied more than a million marketing applications for candy- and fruit-flavored vaping products. Last April, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld the agency’s authority to do so. Youth smoking rates in New York dropped to their lowest level since tracking began in 2000, and e-cigarette use among high school students fell from nearly 19 percent in 2022 to about 13 percent in 2024.
Then, in early May, the FDA authorized the sale of four flavored vape products, including, for the first time ever, fruit-flavored e-cigarettes. The shift in direction is unmistakable, and for communities like ours, it raises serious concerns about what the repercussions may be when the administration’s actions fly in the face of the public health message about tobacco use that was finally getting through.
What concerns us is the message this decision sends — and what it means for the progress in reducing tobacco use that we have fought hard to achieve in Clinton, Franklin, Essex, and St. Lawrence counties, where our organizations work directly with young people, families, schools, and healthcare providers on tobacco and nicotine prevention.
New data from the New York State Department of Health makes the stakes clear. While overall youth tobacco use has declined, youth openness to smoking has reached its highest level on record. About one in five middle and high school students who have never smoked now report being open to trying it. Public health researchers consider this an early warning sign: young people who haven’t firmly decided against smoking are significantly more likely to start.
That finding alone should give policymakers pause. But it lands at a moment when the federal government is moving in the opposite direction — loosening restrictions on the very products that public health campaigns have spent years warning young people about. In March, the FDA released draft guidance signaling its openness to approving additional flavored vaping products, including mint, coffee, and spice flavors. A coalition of 21 state attorneys general has since urged the agency to reverse course.
The result is a muddied public health landscape. While the FDA cites digital age-verification technology as a safeguard against youth access, the broader issue is what becomes normalized. When regulators authorize flavored vaping products similar to those prevention campaigns have spent years discouraging, the public receives mixed signals. Parents and educators are left with a more difficult message to communicate, while young people may interpret these approvals as evidence that such products are less harmful than previously believed.
Here in the North Country, we don’t have to speculate what this looks like. Since the beginning of 2026, the Commercial Tobacco Use Reduction Network (C-TURN) at Champlain Valley Family Center has collected 363 vape products across the region. More than half — 201 devices — were confiscated from schools in Clinton, Franklin, and Essex counties. Of the 363 products collected, 306 appeared to contain nicotine. Not one was a legal flavor to sell in New York State. These are devices with fancy screens and flavors designed to attract and addict kids: Blue Razz Ice, Grape Slush, Rocket Pop, Watermelon Bubble Gum. Nicotine is incredibly difficult to quit, and young people picking up these products don’t realize they are likely on the fast track to a lifelong addiction. These products, though illegal, clearly remain easily accessible to our students and are directly fueling the next generation of nicotine dependence.
In St. Lawrence County, the Seaway Valley Prevention Council’s tobacco prevention work tells a similar story. As Travis Jordan, Program Coordinator for Advancing Tobacco Free Communities at Seaway Valley Prevention Council, observed: “With the new FDA ruling expanding market access for ENDS products, it’s a bit disheartening. While allowing adults to transition off cigarettes is a great thing, allowing flavors like menthol and ‘Gold’ (essentially mango) still gives youth an avenue to become addicted. Menthol is known to make tobacco easier to start and harder to quit. Hopefully, we can continue to limit these products to ensure safety for the next generation of youth and adults.”
This is not a moment to step back from prevention work. It is a moment to double down on what we know to be true: flavored nicotine products appeal to young people regardless of who they are marketed to, and the progress we’ve made is worth protecting.
We urge our community members, school leaders, healthcare providers, and elected officials to pay attention to these federal policy shifts and ask whether they serve the health of North Country families. We encourage parents to talk openly with their children about nicotine and vaping. And we encourage anyone looking for support in quitting tobacco or nicotine to reach out — help is available through the New York State Quitline at 1-866-NY-QUITS (1-866-697-8487).
The appeal of these products is designed. Our response should be, too.
Hanna Schneider, Tobacco Project Coordinator
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