As state legislative sessions wind down for the year, adult vapers and users of other safer alternatives to combustible cigarettes are catching a brief respite from the relentless onslaught of new tax hikes and product restrictions. However, despite campaign-trail promises from figures like Donald Trump to protect flavored vapor products, the tools of tobacco harm reduction remain under increasing threat. This time, the primary driver is not just state-level action, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) persistent failure to regulate and authorize these products in a timely, transparent, and effective manner. This federal inaction has created a vacuum, leading to a chaotic patchwork of state laws that often undermine public health goals. What is urgently needed is a straightforward, science-based, top-down regulatory approach – starting with the FDA – to help the nearly 30 million American adults still using deadly combustible cigarettes transition to safer alternatives.