US regulators are cracking down on illegal vapes

Drunk millennials may soon have to go back to actual cigarettes. The US government is ramping up its efforts to regulate fruit-flavored, disposable vapes that have flooded the American market in recent years – despite technically being illegal.

Yesterday, the FDA and Justice Department announced a multi-agency task force aimed at cracking down on illegal e-cigarette products, including many popular disposable vape brands.

• The largest such companies are Breeze and Elfbar – two brands the FDA ordered off the market last year, but who still remain the top disposable vape sellers in the US.
• Overall, disposable vapes represent more than 30% of US e-cigarette sales in stores tracked by Nielsen, despite the fact that nearly all such products are technically banned.

If most disposable vapes are illegal, why are they still being sold? Short answer: because up to this point, US regulators were all bark and no bite. The FDA has sent 1,100+ warning letters in recent years to manufacturers, importers, and retailers that handle illegal vape products. But the letters don’t have much heft, since the FDA can't sue bad actors – so many companies simply ignore them.

• The FDA’s multi-agency task force is aiming to turn this dynamic on its head, with officials saying their goal is to strictly prosecute e-cigarette violations armed with the threat of possible felony convictions, criminal fines, and/or product seizures.

👀 Looking ahead… The task force announcement comes two days before a Senate hearing centered around the US government’s lack of enforcement on illegal e-cigarettes.