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Michael Jordan is an associate in Troutman Pepper's Richmond office. Michael draws on a diverse range of experiences in government and private practice to help clients navigate complex regulatory issues. He focuses primarily on heavily regulated industries, such as tobacco and cannabis.

The Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (“CTP”) will hold a two-day public meeting on the agency’s premarket tobacco product application (“PMTA”) process. The meeting will be held October 23-24 and can be attended in person in Silver Spring, Maryland, or online.

CTP’s press release indicates that staff from the Office of Science

Our team has previously written about the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) response to the Reagan-Udall Foundation report on the Center for Tobacco Product’s operations. If you missed our prior posts, check them out at the links below:Continue Reading FDA Touts “Significant Strides” in Addressing Reagan-Udall Report but Acknowledges More Work Remains

Published in Law360 on June 27, 2023. © Copyright 2023, Portfolio Media, Inc., publisher of Law360. Reprinted here with permission.

On May 11, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Inc. went on the offensive to keep its new line of nonmenthol cigarettes marketed with language like “crisp,” “smooth” and “mellow” on store shelves in California.[1]

This suit, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Bonta, seeks declaratory relief in the Superior Court of California, County of Fresno, that California’s attorney general misinterpreted and misapplied the state’s ban on flavored tobacco products, and incorrectly concluded that R.J. Reynolds’ new products violate this ban.Continue Reading What RJ Reynolds’ Calif. Suit Means for Tobacco Regulation

On May 11, RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company, along with two convenience stores and the American Petroleum and Convenience Store Association, sued the California attorney general and district attorney for Fresno County in their official capacities, seeking declaratory relief that these California officials misinterpreted and misapplied California’s ban on flavored tobacco products and incorrectly concluded that RJ Reynolds’ new products violate this ban.Continue Reading RJ Reynolds Sues California AG Disputing Applicability of Flavor Ban

Over the last several months, FDA and DOJ enforcement efforts have increasingly focused on manufacturers and distributors of vapor products covered by the Food, Drug, & Cosmetic Act and the PACT Act.

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and Department of Justice (DOJ) are increasingly focusing enforcement efforts on electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). Such enforcement priorities have been reflected in six DOJ complaints for injunctions and four FDA complaints for civil monetary penalties (CMP) against businesses dealing in ENDS without marketing authorization under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). In addition, ENDS businesses have been receiving communications from DOJ’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) alleging violations of the PACT Act, and FDA has issued a substantial number of warning letters alleging ENDS businesses’ FD&C Act violations. Federal prioritization of ENDS enforcement has also been reflected in FDA statements in connection with its CMP complaints and the Reagan-Udall Foundation’s operational evaluation of FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), which we have discussed here, here, and here.Continue Reading Federal Government Ramping Up Vapor Enforcement

This is the second post in our multipart series evaluating the Food and Drug Administration’s response to the Regan-Udall Foundation report on the operations of the Center for Tobacco Products. If you missed our first post, check it out here.

There is a common refrain that appears throughout the Reagan-Udall Foundation report on the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — lack of transparency. The report found that stakeholders generally perceived premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) — required for all electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) on the market — as “ineffective and problematic” due in part to a “lack of adequate guidance and transparency regarding CTP expectations,” as well as a “lack of clarity regarding review standards.”Continue Reading Inside FDA’s Response to Reagan-Udall Foundation Report: Spotlight on the Science and Application Review Task Force

On January 26, the Food and Drug Administration essentially threw up its hands and announced that Congress needs to create a new regulatory pathway for cannabidiol (CBD) products because the existing pathways are inadequate to mitigate possible health risks. The agency simultaneously denied three long-pending requests to allow marketing of CBD products as dietary supplements. The move came as a major setback to industry stakeholders that have waited years for clear guidelines on CBD from FDA.Continue Reading FDA Won’t Use Its Existing Authority to Regulate CBD After All

On November 3, Judge Gary L. Sharpe of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York issued a preliminary injunction, blocking cannabis regulators from issuing marijuana retail licenses for five geographic regions across the state, while a constitutional challenge to the program proceeds.Continue Reading Federal Judge Finds NY Cannabis Residency Rules Likely Unconstitutional and Discriminatory Against Out-of-State Applicants

On July 5, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the decision of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to “deem” premium cigars subject to the same federal law as other tobacco products like cigarettes was “arbitrary and capricious.” In reaching this conclusion, Judge Amit Mehta relied heavily on industry comments regarding the relative public health risks and negligible youth use of premium cigars, as well as related studies — which the court said FDA either ignored or glossed over. The opinion underscores the importance of the role of public comments in agency rulemaking.
Continue Reading Industry Comments Loom Large in DC Court, Finding FDA Regulation of Premium Cigars “Arbitrary and Capricious”

On June 10, a bipartisan coalition of 31 state attorneys general, led by Idaho, Illinois, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania, sent a letter to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Robert M. Califf, asking the agency to reject premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) for all products that contain nicotine not derived from tobacco, also known as non-tobacco nicotine (NTN) or synthetic nicotine.
Continue Reading Bipartisan Coalition of 31 State AGs Urge FDA to Deny Marketing Authorization for Non-Tobacco Nicotine Products