Top Takeaways:

• Vape trade groups challenged Mississippi’s synthetic nicotine ban in the Fifth Circuit after a district court declined to block enforcement.
• The law bans the sale of synthetic nicotine e-cigarettes and is already being enforced through seizures and penalties.
• Plaintiffs contend the statute is preempted by federal law and improperly infringes on FDA authority.

A group of advocacy groups and companies has appealed a Mississippi state law that prohibits the sale of vaping products that use synthetic nicotine to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, aiming to overturn a federal district court’s decision not to temporarily block enforcement of the law.

Earlier this week, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi denied the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction against House Bill 916, which bans the sale of e-cigarette products containing synthetic nicotine in the state.

According to court filings, the plaintiffs include the Vapor Technology Association, the Mississippi Small VTC Business Association, and several vape retailers. On Monday, the groups filed a notice of appeal indicating they will ask the Fifth Circuit to review the lower court’s decision and pause enforcement of the law while the case moves forward.

House Bill 916 took effect in July 2025 and explicitly bans the sale of e-cigarette products containing synthetic nicotine. State authorities began enforcing the law in October, including through product seizures and criminal penalties, and began civil enforcement actions in late November.

The plaintiffs argue that the Mississippi law is preempted by federal law and thus invalid under the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause. They assert that the law effectively bans the sale of any e-cigarette products without approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which in practice allows state officials to enforce federal regulatory standards.

According to the complaint, the companies argue that Congress has granted the FDA sole authority over the regulation of tobacco and nicotine products. They claim that allowing Mississippi to set its own authorization requirements improperly encroaches on federal jurisdiction.

The lawsuit further claims that the FDA has deliberately taken a case-by-case enforcement stance on unauthorized vaping products, instead of implementing a blanket ban, to balance public health goals, including harm reduction for adult smokers switching away from combustible cigarettes.

The Fifth Circuit has previously ruled favorably for the vaping industry. The defendant in the case is Chris Graham, the commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Revenue, which enforces the statute.