The E-Cigarette Loophole: Illicit Disposable Vapes Declare War on Our Youth

Written by Javier Palomarez, this article was originally published in Real Clear Health and can be found on their website here.

The recent surge of fentanyl and the exponential use of illicit, flavored, disposable vapor products, 90% of which are manufactured in China, amongst our youth is perhaps the greatest risk to our next generation.  It is crucial that our leaders in Congress and the Administration act immediately. Every day, we witness more and more the damaging effects of what we consider to be chemical warfare against our youth. It is time to take a stand against this attack.

A Trump-era policy banning flavored, non-tobacco, non-menthol cartridge-based e-cigarettes inadvertently created a loophole that allowed disposable vaping products in youth-appealing flavors, like Cotton Candy Ice and Strawberry Ice Cream, to thrive. Simply because these vapes are to be thrown away after use, as opposed to replenished with a new cartridge, they are able to remain on the market. This asymmetric regulation and enforcement gives an advantage to rule-breaking entities from overseas. Disposable vaping product use amongst youth has surged . These bad actors, primarily from China, have specifically targeted children through marketing that communicates that these products look and taste like candy. None of these flavored disposables have FDA authorization, and several illicit vapes have been laced with deadly chemicals, including fentanyl. The challenge facing the Biden Administration and the FDA is clear … close the loophole!

Our youth face a host of challenges, including mass shootings, online harassment, cultural division, and teenage suicides. It is incumbent upon us as a society to unite and shield our children from both physical and psychological hazards. Vaping poses an indisputable physical risk to all, particularly our young people, with usage rates soaring by nearly 2,000%. Therefore, it is crucial for us to come together and address this issue.

In fact, over 57% of high school students and nearly 46% of middle schoolers who reported using e-cigarettes used a disposable product. Further breakdown illustrates the disparities in e-cigarette use among minority and Hispanic youth is undeniable. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2020, Hispanic high school students were more likely to use e-cigarettes (21.1%) compared to white (15.3%) and black (11.8%) students. Bottom line, whatever their race or ethnicity, our children face adverse health effects such as nicotine addiction, lung damage, negative impacts on brain development and grave dangers associated with cutting agents such as Fentanyl. 

The oversaturation of candy-flavored vapes is waging nothing short of chemical warfare on our kids, comparable to the influx of Fentanyl trafficked by cartels and its impact on our nation. Although small businesses, the very community we represent, are often the vendors selling these illicit, disposable vape products, we urge them to take these unregulated and illegal products off their shelves. Commerce with a conscience is crucial, and the margins on these products are not worth the lives of our children.

We stand with Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a mother and former healthcare executive, in calling for the passage of H.R. 901 ’Disposable ENDS Product Enforcement Act of 2023’ in order to close this loophole. In a statement, Congresswoman Cherfilus-McCormick said, “Chinese manufacturers and suppliers are flooding the U.S. market with unregulated, harmful substances that are altering our children’s brain development and lives. I am calling on the Biden Administration to close this harmful loophole for the sake of our youth and to put an end to this national epidemic.” We call on her peers in Congress to stand with her in protecting our next generation. 

It’s time for our nation to take a stand against these predatory practices. The United States Hispanic Business Council (USHBC) implores our leaders on both the federal and state levels, the FDA, and small businesses across America to band together in a common cause to stop the flow of these deadly products once and for all. 

Javier Palomarez, President and CEO of the United States Hispanic Business Council.