North America: Market data & legal analysis of the nicotine sector

18th April 2024: US - Hawaii: Honolulu mayor Rick Blangiardi has signed Bill 1 banning the sale of herbal cigarettes to anyone under 21 years old. It will require posting a sign on or near vending machines selling the products that bears the statement: “The sale of herbal cigarettes to persons under 21 is prohibited”. The bill says: “Herbal cigarettes are made of herbs such as damiana, ginseng, catnip, and mint.” Honolulu is one of the first localities that specifically limits the sale of herbal cigarettes to under-21s. It is a city-county with a total population of 1m.
17th April 2024: Canada: The minister of finance presented the Federal Budget 2024, which proposes to amend the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act to allow information sharing between government departments for the effective administration and enforcement of the forthcoming tobacco cost recovery framework.
17th April 2024: Canada: Starting today, heated tobacco and oral tobacco tax increases to CAD11.61031 (USD8.42) per 50 g or a fraction of 50 g contained in a package.
11th April 2024: US - Ohio: A coalition of 14 cities in Ohio has filed a lawsuit challenging the state law that prevents cities and counties from enacting tobacco regulations that are stricter than the state’s. The plaintiffs claim the law violates Ohio’s constitution, specifically a line that says cities “have the authority to exercise all powers of local self-government and to adopt and enforce within their limits such local police, sanitary and other similar regulations, as are not in conflict with general laws”. The pre-emption law was passed by the state’s General Assembly as part of its budget proposal, and then vetoed for a second time by governor Mike DeWine before the General Assembly voted to override the veto in January. The case seeks a temporary injunction to keep the ban from going into effect on 24th April.
11th April 2024: US - Virginia: House Bill (HB) 1099 has been signed by the governor. It redefines “cigarette” for state cigarette tax purposes to include “cigarettes intended to be heated”. HB 1099 also subjects such heated tobacco (HT) consumables to an excise tax of $0.0225 per stick from 1st July 2024.
10th April 2024: US - Alabama: House Bill (HB) 438 has been introduced, which would provide a definition for heated tobacco products and establish a tax for them. Accordingly, from 1st October 2024 until 30th September 2027, for all heated tobacco products, the tax on a single-use consumable unit would be $0.17. From 1st October 2027 the tax would be $0.0085 per single-use consumable unit, and from 1st October 2029 the tax would be $0.005 per single-use consumable unit.
8th April 2024: US - Federal: The US House Oversight and Accountability Committee has announced a hearing that will examine the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with committee members questioning FDA commissioner Robert Califf. The hearing “will examine the Oversight Committee’s ongoing investigations into the FDA’s response to several issues, including the regulation of tobacco and nicotine products”. The hearing is scheduled for 11th April, and will be streamed live on the committee’s website. Last year the committee announced that it was investigating the FDA Center for Tobacco Products.
8th April 2024: US - Federal: On 4th April 2024, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the issuance of 119 warning letters to, and the filing of 41 civil money penalty complaints against, bricks-and-mortar retailers that engaged in the under-age sale of various flavours of Zyn nicotine pouches between October 2023 and February 2024. The FDA has also issued warning letters to three online retailers for the sale of unauthorised, flavoured Zyn nicotine pouches, including Espressino, Black Cherry, Lemon Spritz, and Cucumber Lime. “Although currently available data do not show that youth use of nicotine pouches has increased, FDA remains concerned about any tobacco product that may be appealing to youth and we will continue to closely monitor youth use of these products,” said Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products.
4th April 2024: US - Vermont: Governor Phil Scott has vetoed S 18, which would have banned the sale of flavoured tobacco products, including menthol, because he thinks it’s impractical considering the products could still be bought online or in neighbouring states. He further wrote: “To be clear, I too feel we have an obligation to protect our children, but it must be balanced in such a way that we honor the rights and freedoms of adults to make decisions about their individual lives.” The American Heart Association opposed the governor’s decision to veto the bill saying that “failing to pass this legislation means Big Tobacco continues to hook young people into a lifetime of addiction”.
4th April 2024: US - Federal: The African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC), Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), and the National Medical Association (NMA), have filed a second lawsuit against the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the agency’s inaction on issuing a final rule banning menthol cigarettes. This lawsuit comes more than seven months after the FDA’s initial deadline for finalising the new rule. Carol McGruder, founding member of the AATCLC, said: “The industry knows that every year of delay is another year where they have the opportunity to addict another batch of our people.”
2nd April 2024: US - General: Philip Morris International (PMI) is preparing to launch its Iqos heated tobacco device in Austin, Texas, media reports. The city will be a testing ground for PMI's re-entry into the US market after the company resolved an intellectual property dispute with British American Tobacco (BAT). Job advertisements posted on LinkedIn – including positions such as field sales representatives, territory managers and retail sales advisers – suggest that PMI is planning to launch the product in Austin. PMI said previously that it planned to launch the device in four cities in two US states starting with one city in the second quarter, ahead of a broader rollout likely in 2025; however, further details around which cities or states it is targeting have not been released.

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