WASHINGTON (AP) – Senators on Wednesday criticized top health and law enforcement officials for not doing more to combat the rise of illegal electronic cigarettes in the US, a multi-billion dollar business that has thrived amid haphazard enforcement.
Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee expressed frustration and exasperation as they questioned officials from the Food and Drug Administration and the Justice Department about efforts to stay on top of the vaping industry, which has grown to include thousands of unauthorized flavored e-cigarettes originating from China.
These products, including brands like Elf Bar, have become the most popular choice among American teenage drinkers.
“I simply do not understand how the FDA and DOJ have allowed thousands of products to remain on store shelves when their manufacturers have not obtained authorization, or, in some cases, even submitted an application,” said committee chairman Dick Durbin. .
The Illinois Democrat displayed a photo of a rack stocked with brightly colored e-cigarettes, including dragon fruit and watermelon gum flavors, which he said a Senate staffer picked up at a vape shop near the FDA’s campus. of in Maryland.
“These illegal products, clearly designed for children’s tastes, are being sold in the shadow of the FDA building,” Durbin said. “How is this allowed to happen?”
The FDA’s tobacco chief, Brian King, said the agency has been slowed by a large number of applications submitted by vape companies seeking US approval, which regulators are legally required to review.
“The sheer volume of this product landscape requires us to take the time to conduct scientifically and legally defensible reviews of 27 million applications,” King said.
The FDA has approved a handful of e-cigarettes as alternatives for adult smokers. All other products on the market, including major sellers like Juul, are pending review or deemed illegal by regulators.
An industry lobbyist told the committee that the FDA has created an unsustainable market by rejecting more than 99% of applications submitted by companies.
Lawmakers also heard from a high school senior who said she became addicted to nicotine after trying a “cranberry ice” hit in ninth grade.
“I thought I was just enjoying the flavors, but soon my 14-year-old brain was craving more and more nicotine,” said Josie Shapiro of Seattle. “I’ve been trying to quit vaping over and over, but it’s really, really hard.”
The FDA and DOJ have legally banned about half a dozen vaping companies for selling products that might appeal to young people, but many other manufacturers continue to launch new products, mostly disposable vapes that can’t be refilled and thrown in the trash can.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Arun Rao told senators that regulators at the Justice Department and other agencies have signaled that the issue of vaping “is a priority across the executive branch.”
“I’m against signals,” Durbin said. “Do something!”
On Monday, the FDA and DOJ announced a new government task force, which will involve the US Postal Service and other agencies, to try and address the problem. This step was recommended in 2022 by a outer panel that reviewed long complaints regarding the FDA’s tobacco program.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis called the timing of the announcement “a political stunt” and criticized the absence of other federal agencies from the initiative, including Customs and Border Protection.
“If the timing of the task force was not evidence of how serious the FDA is about dealing with the deluge of illegal e-cigarettes, the FDA’s exclusion of CBP from the task force makes it clear,” said Tillis, who represents the Carolinas. North. , the country’s leading tobacco producer. He urged officials to focus enforcement on Chinese brands, rather than large domestic manufacturers such as Reynolds American.
The FDA can conduct investigations and recommend cases, but only the Department of Justice can bring lawsuits. Federal prosecutors can decline to pursue cases for any number of reasons, including competing advantages, weaknesses in the case, or the potential consequences of losing in court.
Using its own authorities, the FDA has sent hundreds of warning letters to vapor shops and e-cigarette manufacturers in recent years. But the letters have done little to persuade companies to flout FDA rules and introduce new vapes.
Industry analysts estimate that disposable vapers make up 30% to 40% of the roughly $7 billion vaping market. The two best-selling disposable devices – Breeze and Elf Bar — generated more than $500 million in sales last year, according to Nielsen retail sales data analyzed by Goldman Sachs.
Both brands have been sanctioned by FDA regulators but remain widely available, in some cases with new names, logos and flavors. More than half of the 2.8 million American teens and teens who vaped last year said they used Elf Bar.
King noted that products like the Elf Bar cannot be legally sold in China because the government there has banned tobacco-free e-cigarettes.
“You can’t sell them in China, but you can sell them in the United States?” Senator John Cornyn of Texas responded. The Republican vowed to introduce legislation that addresses what he called “an outrageous and unacceptable status quo.”
Overall, teen vaping has dropped 60% since its all-time high in 2019, following the COVID-19 pandemic and new age restrictions and flavor bans on e-cigarettes and other vaping products. tobacco.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science Media and Education Group. AP is solely responsible for all content.
