A federal circuit court has reversed a decision blocking an Iowa law that imposed new regulations on the sale of e-cigarette products, holding that Iowa’s law does not conflict with federal regulatory authority.
Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the challenged law, House File 2677, in 2024 and directed officials to create a “vapor products directory” listing permissible e-cigarette products.
Under the law, only products with FDA approval, or which have been on the market since at least 2016 and sought FDA approval by 2020, can be sold in Iowa.
Iowans for Alternatives to Smoking and Tobacco, a coalition of vape product manufacturers and retailers behind the initial lawsuit, contended the new law would eliminate “over 99%” of vaping products currently offered for sale and likely force many retailers to close.
The directory was expected to take effect in February 2025, but the state agreed to postpone the directory while the plaintiffs sought an injunction.
In a July 30 ruling, the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a decision from Chief U.S. District Judge Stephanie Rose that blocked nearly all of the law from taking effect in May 2025. Rose ruled the law violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution by conflicting with the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
That law reserves for the federal government the right to regulate the manufacturing and safety of tobacco and related products, although it permits states to impose their own regulations on their sale.
The vape coalition contends Congress gave the FDA the exclusive authority to enforce its drug safety mandates, and the Iowa law includes exceptions for some products derived from tobacco, but not for similar products containing nicotine from other sources.
But U.S. Eighth Circuit Judge Steven Grasz rejected Rose’s theory, instead finding the Iowa law is not preempted by Congress’ Tobacco Control Act and sided with the state attorneys’ case that the vape coalition’s legal argument is not likely to succeed.
Grasz also agreed with the state’s argument that Congress did not intend to prevent state tobacco regulation when passing the TCA, adding Iowa’s attempted sales ban falls under the law’s “savings clause.”
“HF 2677 is a manifestation of Iowa’s traditional police power to regulate the health and safety of its citizens,” Grasz wrote. “HF 2677 does not trample on areas that are uniquely federal or on interstate matters.”
The Eighth Circuit Court, however, disagreed with the state’s argument that the vape coalition did not have standing to sue, finding that members were able to prove they would face injury from the law.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird celebrated Thursday’s ruling, saying she is grateful for the decision to uphold Iowa’s vape registry as a “mom and a prosecutor.”
“Illegal Chinese vapes generate over $11 billion in annual retail sales and make up more than 80% of all vape sales nationwide,” Bird said in a statement. “China markets these candy-flavored vapes, with flavors like cotton candy and blue raspberry, to American kids while they are banned in their own country. They mislabel these unregulated products full of carcinogens to slip through customs—putting Iowa kids at risk.”
In a concurring opinion, U.S. Circuit Judge James Loken disagreed that the Iowa law is not preempted by federal law and resolving the dispute would require “a far more extensive record, including evidence of how Iowa intends to enforce this open-ended statute, and how that will affect FDA’s exclusive federal statutory authority to enforce the TCA.”
Rapid Response Politics Reporter Maya Marchel Hoff can be reached at mmarchelHoff@registermedia.com. You can find her on X (formerly Twitter) at @mmarchelhoff.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Appeals court says Iowa vape law does not conflict with FDA rules
Reporting by Maya Marchel Hoff, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Maya Marchel Hoff, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
