United States: Market data & legal analysis of the nicotine sector

22nd October 2024: US - General: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published “Tobacco Product Use Among Middle and High School Students — National Youth Tobacco Survey, United States, 2024”, which analyses the data of the 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey, specifically examining tobacco product use between both middle and high school students. The most reported used tobacco product among all students was e-cigarettes (5.9%), followed by nicotine pouches (1.8%), while heated tobacco products were among the least used (0.8%). High school students' use of tobacco products decreased from 12.6% to 10.1% (specifically, e-cigarette use declined from 10% to 7.8%), while middle school students' use of tobacco products remained at 5.4% with no statistical impactful change from one year to the other.
21st October 2024: US - General: Philip Morris International (PMI) today confirmed it is launching its Iqos tobacco heating product in Austin, Texas, as has been expected for some time. Current nicotine users who are over the age of 21 and live in designated areas of Austin will be given the opportunity to join a waiting list to be among the first to try Iqos once the product becomes available. Further information can be found in our news analysis.
16th October 2024: US - General: British American Tobacco (BAT) plans to launch a version of its Velo nicotine pouches using synthetic nicotine in the US, Reuters reports. David Waterfield, president of the company's US subsidiary Reynolds American, said BAT's new Velo product, Velo Plus, due to launch in 2025 and offering more nicotine strengths, contained synthetic nicotine – one of the first clear examples of synthetic nicotine use by a Big Tobacco company. He also mentioned that BAT plans to explore further opportunities in the synthetic nicotine market.
15th October 2024: US - Federal: The American Medical Association (AMA), together with other health groups, has added individual parties as plaintiffs to its lawsuit against federal agencies the US Department of Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Center for Tobacco Products, together with some individual officers of these agencies. The lawsuit aims to prompt the FDA to issue a final rule that would ban menthol cigarettes. Newly added plaintiffs are “African American adult[s] addicted to menthol cigarettes, or else formerly addicted to menthol cigarettes”. The reason for amending the complaint is procedural, due to a recent US Supreme Court ruling, which established when advocacy groups or medical associations wouldn’t have standing to sue. The health organisations added individuals as plaintiffs to make sure standing isn’t a procedural issue and the case is not dismissed.
10th October 2024: US - Missouri: Today, the Kansas City Council will consider an ordinance that would ban the sale and distribution of flavoured tobacco products. The ordinance would ban all flavours except tobacco in all tobacco and vapour products. Kansas City is the largest city in Missouri, with a population of more than 500,000. If passed, this would be the first local flavour ban in the state.
1st October 2024: US - Michigan: Several new bills have been introduced relating to youth access to nicotine and tobacco products, including House Bill (HB) 6002, HB 6003, HB 6004 and HB6005. These bills would update existing legislation to reflect the federal minimum tobacco access age requirement of 21, and would generally adjust penalties regarding the sales of tobacco products, vapour products and alternative nicotine products to under-21s.
30th September 2024: US - Federal: As as stipulated in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s final rule issued on 30th August 2024 – which increased the minimum age for certain restrictions on tobacco sales – as of today, 30th September, retailers will have to ask anyone under the age of 30 for photo identification (previously, it was 27), and vending machines with tobacco products will not be allowed, unless access to individuals under 21 is prohibited (previously, it was 18).
25th September 2024: US - Federal: This month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the data from the 2024 E-Cigarette and Nicotine Pouch Use Among Middle and High School Students (in the US). While the data shows that e-cigarette usage has declined among youth (from 7.7% to 5.9% from one year to the other), the FDA and CDC still consider it high. Additionally, they have pointed out that nicotine pouch usage among youth has become concerning.
5th September 2024: US - San Francisco: San Francisco city attorney David Chiu is bringing a lawsuit against four online tobacco retailers for selling flavoured nicotine pouches to consumers in San Francisco, alleging that violates city law. Chiu said: “These products are not welcome here, and we are taking decisive action against these online retailers.” Fahad Qurashi, chief programme officer of the Youth Leadership Institute, said: “Youth leaders across San Francisco are prepared to support any action against the aggressive and pervasive marketing of a new generation of tobacco products to youth.”
2nd September 2024: US - Federal: The US Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) has issued a final rule increasing the minimum age for certain restrictions on tobacco sales. From 30th September, retailers must ask any purchasers of tobacco products under the age of 30 for photo identification (currently, this requirement is for customers under 27). In addition, vending machines with tobacco products will not be permitted unless under-21s have their access restricted to these facilities (currently, this requirement is for under-18s). “Today’s rule is another key step toward protecting our nation’s youth from the health risks of tobacco products,” said Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. He added: “Decades of science have shown that keeping tobacco products away from youth is critical to reducing the number of people who ultimately become addicted to these products and suffer from tobacco-related disease and death.”
2nd September 2024: US - Minnesota: Attorney general Keith Ellison has sent a letter to more than 5,000 tobacco distributors and retailers asking them to confirm they will comply with Minnesota law and stop distributing, marketing and selling unauthorised and illegal flavoured tobacco products in the state. These products include flavoured e-cigarettes and flavoured nicotine pouch products that have not been authorised for sale by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In the letter, Ellison notes that many unauthorised and illegal tobacco products on the market today include e-cigarette and oral nicotine pouch products that feature candy, fruit or dessert flavours that particularly appeal to minors.
22nd August 2024: US - General: Japan Tobacco (JT) has announced that the JT Group has reached an agreement with Vector Group, the fourth largest tobacco company in the US, to acquire Vector in a deal worth $2.4bn. Eddy Pirard, president and CEO of JT International, said: “This transaction will significantly increase our US presence, boosting our market share from 2.3% to approximately 8.0% and giving us full ownership of two of the top ten US cigarette brands. The transaction will enable us to also strengthen our distribution network, and create mid- to long-term strategic opportunities to boost our competitiveness in this major tobacco market.” See our news analysis for more on this subject.

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