{"id":22177,"date":"2024-12-19T09:51:45","date_gmt":"2024-12-19T14:51:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/countertools.org\/?p=22177"},"modified":"2024-12-19T09:55:38","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T14:55:38","slug":"the-surge-of-illegal-e-cigarettes-how-can-we-respond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/countertools.org\/blog\/the-surge-of-illegal-e-cigarettes-how-can-we-respond\/","title":{"rendered":"The Surge of Illegal E-cigarettes: How Can We Respond?"},"content":{"rendered":"

E-cigarettes<\/strong><\/a>, commonly known as vapes, are electronic devices that heat liquid and produce aerosol. These devices are the\u00a0most popular commercial tobacco product among youth<\/strong><\/a>, typically contain nicotine, and come in several enticing flavors including candy, fruit, and menthol, making them highly addictive and dangerous. Findings from the\u00a02024 National Youth Tobacco Survey<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>report that among youth who currently use e-cigarettes, three of the five most commonly used products are Elf Bar (36.1%), Breeze (19.9%), and Mr. Fog (15.8%). What else do these popular brands among youth have in common? They are all illegal. None of these products are a part of the\u00a034 e-cigarette products and devices<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which are the only e-cigarette products that can be lawfully marketed and sold in the United States. In order for a new tobacco product to be lawfully sold, manufacturers must submit a\u00a0premarket tobacco product application (PMTA)<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0that provides comprehensive scientific data demonstrating the new product is suitable for the\u00a0protection of public health<\/strong><\/a>. However, due to the millions of PMTAs being submitted and the speed of new products being launched, particularly disposable e-cigarettes, the FDA and its enforcement partner, the Department of Justice (DOJ), continue to experience significant challenges in preventing illegal e-cigarettes from\u00a0flooding the market<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Recent efforts by the FDA to curb the sale of illegal e-cigarettes include the creation of a federal multi-agency\u00a0task force<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in June 2024. Director of the FDA\u2019s Center for Tobacco Products, Dr. Brian King, stated, \u201cThis \u2018All Government\u2019 approach \u2013 including the creation of this new Task Force \u2013 will bring the collective resources and experience of the federal government to bear on this pressing public health issue.\u201d The FDA is working to curb the sale of illegal products in part by issuing\u00a0warning letters<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0fines<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to brick-and-mortar stores selling unauthorized products, as well as\u00a0seizing<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0shipments of these products.<\/p>\n

State health departments play a critical role in combating the rise of illegal e-cigarettes on the market, starting with enhancing enforcement of existing regulations. Completing regular inspections and compliance checks of retailers, along with instilling tobacco retailer\u00a0merchant education<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0programs will help ensure retailers adhere to laws regarding all commercial tobacco products. States can pursue stronger policies (e.g. through\u00a0tobacco retail licensing or zoning<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0measures) to regulate how tobacco products are marketed and sold and control the overall density, type, and location of retailers within a community, thus helping to prevent youth tobacco use initiation. Some\u00a0states<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0have enacted\u00a0e-cigarette registry bills<\/strong><\/a>, which aim to prohibit retailers from selling e-cigarettes not authorized by the FDA. In order for this law to be effective, proper surveillance along with adequate funding and meaningful penalties for retailers that violate the law must be in place, which can be achieved through tobacco retail licensing.<\/p>\n

The ongoing presence of illegal e-cigarette products continues to undermine efforts by state and federal agencies to instill effective regulatory measures. A multifaceted approach, including stronger enforcement, increased collaboration, and public education is needed to protect public health and is essential to safeguard youth from the dangers of nicotine addiction and other associated health risks. The\u00a0collective call from public health organizations<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0for comprehensive enforcement further emphasizes the urgency of addressing the issue of illegal e-cigarettes and ensuring only FDA-authorized e-cigarette products remain available on the market, which in turn will increase positive health outcomes for all.<\/p>\n

Learn more from Counter Tobacco\u2019s evidence summary on\u00a0e-cigarettes at the point of sale<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

This post was originally published as a feature article for\u00a0The Geographic Health Equity Alliance (GHEA)<\/a>, a CADCA initiative. GHEA is a CDC funded National Network dedicated to reducing geographic health disparities related to tobacco and cancer.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

E-cigarettes, commonly known as vapes, are electronic devices that heat liquid and produce aerosol. These devices are the\u00a0most popular commercial tobacco product among youth, typically contain nicotine, and come in several enticing flavors including candy, fruit, and menthol, making them highly addictive and dangerous. Findings from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":22180,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-point-of-sale","category-tobacco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/countertools.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/countertools.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/countertools.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/countertools.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/countertools.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/countertools.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/countertools.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/countertools.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/countertools.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/countertools.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}