If it were common knowledge that a company was targeting kids to consume highly addictive and dangerous products, you’d expect the government to do something about it. Yet millions of illegal vapes are being smuggled into the U.S. and sold widely — mainly to kids — and the Food and Drug Administration is doing little about it. The FDA needs to step up and end this scourge before the country finds itself in another vaping epidemic, this one caused by government inaction.
I’m a registered respiratory therapist, and know first-hand the terrible effect that tobacco and nicotine use can have on individuals and families. I’m also a mom, and the thought that these products are so easily sold to kids worries me. It’s also beginning to worry Congress: a hearing on Wednesday by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary is exploring “enhancing enforcement against illegal e-cigarettes.”
Ever since the FDA’s Deeming Rule was put in place in 2016, no new vape products are supposed to be sold without the FDA authorizing them. This gives the agency a chance to review the science, know the ingredients, and understand how the products will be marketed to make sure they don’t attract kids and bring greater harm to public health.
But under the FDA’s watch, illegal disposable vapes — mainly made in China — have flooded the country. Manufacturers of these devices face zero oversight from the FDA and, according to the Associated Press, the growth of these products has nearly tripled in the past four years. These products come in brightly colored packaging, with kid-friendly names like Elf Bar and Mr. Fog. Some even come with cartoon characters or celebrity endorsements. A possibly worse trend is emerging: “clear” vaping devices that are marketed as odorless and can be used “under the radar” to avoid parental detection and the vape detectors that schools across the country have put in bathrooms to combat this issue.
Because these products are made by overseas manufacturers who do not abide by the same standards as U.S. manufacturers, they avoid regulation, meaning that users, parents, doctors, public health officials, and others have no idea what’s in them or how much nicotine — a highly addictive ingredient — they contain.
Tellingly, the Chinese government does not allow any of these products to be sold in China — they’re made only for the U.S. market. It’s pretty clear who these companies are trying to target, and it’s no wonder that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that three of the top five vape brands that kids use are illicit products.
What’s so troubling is how easy it is to find these products. Walk into any vape shop or independent tobacco store and you’ll find these products. Studies from California show that, although FDA regulations require retailers to check IDs for all persons under age 27 who attempt to buy tobacco products, and sell them only to those age 21 and older, these stores have a terrible track record when it comes to selling to kids, with more than double the violation rate for youth vape sales than convenience stores. And these products are easily available on websites, which will conveniently deliver them to your door, no questions asked.
Despite rolling out reams of statistics, the FDA’s response to the youth vaping crisis has failed. It has sent warning letters to only a few retailers, stopped a handful of shipments in California, and issued fines that topped out at just over $19,000. Yet the problem continues to grow, with no end in sight.
The FDA wouldn’t allow illegal pharmaceutical products to flow freely through the country. It shouldn’t allow Elf Bars and its kin to be sold in stores after the agency banned them from being imported.
The illicit vape market is a serious issue that demands a serious response from the government. A scatter-shot response won’t stop companies from targeting kids. The FDA needs to do its duty by shutting down the flow of illicit vaping products into the U.S. and cracking down on those who sell them.
Vallerie Biancaniello is a registered respiratory therapist, GOP state committeewoman in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and mother to three boys.