WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators on Wednesday blasted top health and law enforcement officials for not doing more to combat the rise of illegal electronic cigarettes in the U.S., a multibillion-dollar business that has flourished amid haphazard enforcement.
Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee expressed exasperation and frustration while questioning officials from the Food and Drug Administration and Justice Department about attempts to stay on top of the vaping industry, which has grown to include thousands of flavored, unauthorized e-cigarettes originating in China. Those products, including brands like Elf Bar, have become the most popular choice among underage teens who vape. “I simply do not understand how FDA and DOJ have permitted thousands of products to remain on store shelves when their manufacturers have not received authorization, or, in some cases, even filed an application,” said Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin.
The Illinois Democrat displayed a photo of brightly colored e-cigarettes, including ones in dragon fruit and watermelon bubblegum flavors, which he said a staffer took at a vape shop near the FDA’s Maryland campus. “These illegal products, clearly designed for children by their flavors, are being sold in the shadow of FDA’s building, less than a mile from its headquarters,” Durbin said. “How is that allowed to happen?” FDA’s tobacco chief, Brian King, said the agency has been slowed by millions of applications submitte.
