Krishnamoorthi Blasts FDA Decision to Authorize New JUUL2 Vaping Products

August 31, 2026 Press Release FDA Acknowledged Menthol Product Could Appeal to Young People WASHINGTON — Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Caucus to End Youth Vaping, today criticized the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to authorize the marketing of the JUUL2 e-cigarette device along with tobacco- and menthol-flavored pods. The FDA announced Friday that it had authorized the three JUUL2 products after determining that their potential benefits for adults who completely switch from cigarettes outweighed the risks, including the potential appeal of the menthol-flavored product to young people. The decision follows the agency’s authorization of additional JUUL tobacco- and menthol-flavored products in July 2025. “The FDA should be cracking down on products that hook kids on nicotine, not authorizing JUUL2, which even the agency acknowledges could appeal to young people. JUUL helped fuel a youth vaping epidemic, and that record cannot be ignored. At a time when the Trump Administration is weakening efforts to combat youth vaping, we should be strengthening protections for kids, not giving the tobacco industry new opportunities to addict them. I will keep fighting to hold Big Tobacco accountable and protect the next generation from nicotine addiction.” Congressman Krishnamoorthi has been at the forefront of efforts to protect children from harmful e-cigarette products. In 2019, he launched the first congressional investigation into youth vaping , exposing Juul’s marketing tactics and pushing legislation to ban flavored e-cigarettes and close the synthetic nicotine loophole . He has led bipartisan letters urging the FDA to crack down on illegal flavored vapes still widely sold online and in stores and launched an investigation into illicit vaping products from China with advertising targeted at children. Last year, he partnered with Congresswoman Celeste Maloy (R-UT), his fellow co-chair of the bipartisan Caucus to End Youth Vaping, in calling on the FDA to strengthen enforcement as over 6,000 flavored products remain on the market, many of them designed to appeal directly to children. Most recently, Krishnamoorthi joined in introducing the bipartisan PROTECT Act, which would authorize $100 million annually for five years for a CDC initiative to prevent and reduce youth e-cigarette use through research, state and local grants, evidence-based policies, and cessation efforts.