FRE Nicotine Pouches partnered with Taylor Reimer Racing as the Official Nicotine Sponsor for four marquee events in the 2026 ARCA Menards Series season. FRE will serve as the primary sponsor for Taylor Reimer at Talladega Superspeedway (April 25), Berlin Raceway (June 20), Elko Speedway (June 27), and Phoenix Raceway (October 17), with branding featured on the car, driver suit, and helmet. The company said the collaboration aligns its performance-focused nicotine pouch brand with one of stock car racing’s rising drivers, extending beyond race weekends into integrated content and appearances.
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Atlas IoT Gets USPTO Grant for Age-Restricted Vape Technology
Atlas IoT announced that it secured a patent grant from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for an age-restricted device and system designed for electronic nicotine delivery systems, positioning the technology as a potential pathway to strengthen regulatory compliance and support broader adult-focused flavor approvals. The company’s standalone system uses AI-powered age verification to confirm users are 21 or older without requiring app downloads or storing personal data, followed by a one-time thumbprint enrollment that serves as the device’s unlocking mechanism. A secondary bioimpedance sensor embedded in the mouthpiece is designed to prevent use by minors, creating a dual-verification process intended to block unauthorized access.
Atlas IoT said it has requested a Q-Submission meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to discuss a Component Premarket Tobacco Product Application covering the device’s core technology, with plans to partner with e-liquid manufacturers that would file their own PMTAs for compliant flavored pods. The company also emphasized domestic manufacturing and FDA-registered filling operations for its replaceable pods, contrasting its compliance-focused model with the illicit disposable vape market. Atlas IoT said that, if authorized, its platform could establish a new standard for age-restricted ENDS products in the regulated U.S. market.
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De Facto Flavor Ban Threatens German Harm Reduction
Germany is advancing a draft regulation to ban menthol and other vape flavors containing synthetic cooling agents, with implementation possible in 2026 under the Federal Ministry for Agriculture and Food, according to Filter magazine. The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) says cooling agents may make vaping easier to inhale and potentially increase nicotine intake, particularly among youth, though it acknowledges that coolants are “poorly researched,” with “very limited” data to back these claims.
Critics, including the Bundesverband Rauchfreie Alternative, argue the measure amounts to a de facto flavor ban because cooling agents are widely used in e-liquids. They warn it could undermine harm-reduction efforts in Germany, where smoking rates remain high despite a 2020 menthol cigarette ban aligned with European Union rules.
Opponents say restricting flavored vapes risks pushing consumers back to combustible cigarettes or into illicit markets. Heino Stover, professor of social science addiction research at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, told Filter that the “scientific evidence is not there” to warrant such a sweeping ban. “A ban on flavors will not help decrease the high smoking prevalence,” he said. Germany’s aim of reducing its smoking rate to 5% or below by 2040 already seemed ‘unrealistic’ before the proposed ban; it now looks even more unrealistic.”
The draft remains under review.
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22nd Century Reports Momentum for VLN Products
22nd Century Group touted early sales momentum for its VLN low-nicotine cigarettes, distributing approximately 8,800 cartons to about 1,700 new retail outlets nationwide in the fourth quarter of 2025, with initial sell-through data indicating growing adoption across its 22nd Century VLN, Pinnacle VLN, and Smoker Friendly VLN brands. The company said expanding retail placement across convenience stores, wholesalers, and independent chains supports its plan to exceed 5,000 points of distribution in 2026.
22nd Century positioned its progress alongside regulatory developments, including a January 2025 proposed rule by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to cap nicotine levels in cigarettes at 0.7 mg per gram of tobacco, and broader global support for nicotine reduction under the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
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Bill Regulating Vape Shops Moves Forward in W.Va
A bill sponsored by Del. David McCormick ( R-Monongalia) advanced from West Virginia’s House Health and Human Resources Committee and now moves to Judiciary. House Bill 5437, the Vape Safety Act, would require vape and smoke shops — defined as retailers devoting at least 33% of floor space to tobacco or vapor products — to obtain a license from the West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Administration, pass background checks, and pay $1,200 in annual fees, with penalties of up to $10,000 and one year in jail for unlicensed operators. The bill also bars certain felony offenders from ownership and prohibits shops from being used as residences.
“The purpose of House Bill 5437 is to regulate an industry or a business segment that is virtually unregulated and virtually untaxed,” said McCormick. “These vape shops are all over the state. There are many bad actors. Many are not here legally. They live in the shops. They’re selling to underage kids. They’re marketing to underage kids.”
The legislation would create a public Vapor Product Directory requiring manufacturers to certify products have marketing authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or a pending premarket tobacco product application. Products removed from the directory would need to be cleared within 21 days or be treated as contraband. Additional provisions tighten labeling, ingredient disclosure, and youth-marketing restrictions, with McCormick saying the bill is aimed at curbing underage sales and strengthening oversight of the sector.
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Taiwan Fines Top $28M Since Vape Laws Changed
Taiwan’s Health Promotion Administration said authorities have imposed NT$880 million ($28 million) in fines over the past three years for illegal e-cigarettes and unapproved heated tobacco products, following amendments to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act that took effect in March 2023. As of the end of January, officials had conducted more than 970,000 on-site and online inspections, issuing 10,084 penalties — 3,266 related to e-cigarettes and 6,818 to heated tobacco products — including 204 cases tied to online platforms and 2,033 involving illegal use. The agency reiterated that e-cigarettes remain illegal in Taiwan and warned of health risks.
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Truth Initiative Partnering to End ‘Targeted Tobacco Harm’
“Truth Initiative and the NAACP today [Feb. 24] announced a partnership to confront the disproportionate toll of tobacco and nicotine addiction on Black communities and other historically marginalized groups, while supporting individuals in quitting for good,” Truth Initiative announced in a press release. “For decades, the tobacco industry has strategically exploited Black communities through predatory marketing and the appropriation of Black culture,” Dr. Kendric Dartis, vice president of outreach and engagement at Truth Initiative, was quoted in the release.
Building on Truth Initiative’s Breath of Freedom coalition, the partnership will host community discussions and workshops through the Culture + Cessation Collective, expand access to the free EX Program developed with Mayo Clinic, and advocate for stronger protections against menthol and flavored tobacco products.
Truth Initiative said 11.7% of Black American adults are current smokers, compared to 11.5% of American adults overall, and Blacks rank third in smoking rates ethnically behind Indians/Alaska Natives and non-Hispanic white people.
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JTI Backs Unitary Tax for Vape Products in Philippines
Japan Tobacco International backed a proposal to unify excise taxes on vapor products in the Philippines, telling lawmakers that a single rate would curb tax avoidance and strengthen revenue collection. Speaking at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing, JTI Director for Fiscal and Regulatory Affairs Mario Zinampan said differing tax rates for salt nicotine and freebase products create opportunities for misclassification and regulatory arbitrage, effectively enabling another form of illicit trade. He said harmonizing rates would help ensure a level playing field and prevent product misdeclaration.
JTI also argued that a unified vape tax should be aligned with the rate imposed on heated tobacco products, noting that both are recognized alternatives to combustible cigarettes. Zinampan cited the legislative intent behind Republic Act No. 11467, which set the excise tax framework for combustible and non-combustible nicotine products, and said aligning vapor and heated tobacco taxes would promote coherence in the system. The remarks supported Romero ‘Miro’ Quimbo, chairperson of the House Ways and Means Committee, who renewed his call for a unitary vape tax, citing rising youth nicotine use at the hearing.
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Singapore Seizes 14,550 Cartons of Cigarettes
Singapore Customs seized 14,550 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes concealed inside air cooler units during two enforcement operations in February, uncovering more than S$1.6 million ($1.3 million) in evaded duty and Goods and Services Tax. A 40-year-old Chinese national was arrested in connection with the case.
Officers first intercepted the man on Feb. 7 after observing him leaving an industrial building, who led them to a unit where 7,306 cartons were found hidden in three air coolers. Follow-up investigations resulted in a second raid on Feb. 11 at an industrial building, where an additional 7,244 cartons were discovered concealed similarly. The man said an unknown individual engaged him to retrieve the cigarettes from the air coolers and prepare them for local distribution.
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Smoore, Distributors Want Antitrust Claims Dismissed
Vape manufacturers and distributors moved to dismiss consumer antitrust claims in consolidated multidistrict litigation pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. In motions filed Feb. 20, Shenzhen Smoore Technology Co. Ltd. and Smoore International Holdings, along with distributor defendants 3Win Corp., Jupiter Research LLC, Canna Brand Solutions, and Greenlane Holdings Inc., argued that plaintiffs lack standing and have not plausibly alleged a price-fixing conspiracy. The case involves closed cannabis oil vaporization systems, with plaintiffs alleging agreements to set a price floor and restrict competing products.
Defendants contend they sell empty vape hardware, not cannabis-filled products, which they describe as a separate market, and argue consumers are too remote from the hardware market to bring antitrust claims. They further assert the complaint lacks specific pricing, market share, and foreclosure allegations, and maintain that revived claims under the Cartwright Act seek relief tied to products that remain illegal under federal law. The court has not yet ruled.