FDA “CRACKS DOWN” ON THE VAPE INDUSTRY – BUT WHERE IS THE ENFORCEMENT?
Where did all of these illegal devices come from and how are so many of them ending up in the hands of our youth?
Tampa, FLA, Dec. 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- If the FDA’s ultimate goal is to put an end to youth vaping, why are we still seeing so many illegal vape products flooding the US market? We’ve all seen the brightly colored, fruit-flavored disposable vaping devices littering the ground around us. Where did all of these illegal devices come from and how are so many of them ending up in the hands of our youth?
If the intent of government regulations is to keep Americans safe, including protecting our youth from being intentionally targeted by unethical brands selling illegal vape products, why are we seeing such a lack of enforcement? According to the CDC, based on nationally representative data from the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), “Among current e-cigarette users, the types of devices most often used were disposables (high school = 57.2%; middle school = 45.8%)”. Puff Bar was reported to be the most popular brand among current high school and middle school e-cigarette users (29.7%), followed by Vuse (23.6%), and JUUL (22.0%).
These are interesting statistics, considering Puff Bar not only lacks the required premarket authorization to sell its products in the US, but Puff Bar also received a warning letter from the FDA with express written notice to remove all flavored disposable products from the market. By all accounts, Puff Bar products should no longer be accessible or available for purchase in the US, but somehow still account for over 29% of youth e-cigarette users’ most favored disposable device brand. How are these products getting through US Customs? How are they still being sold in convenience stores and vape shops around the country?
Lack of compliance as a result of the lack of enforcement has gotten so out of hand, that the Department of Justice has finally gotten involved. As of October 18th, 2022, injunctions were filed by the Department of Justice against 6 small American companies that have continued to manufacture, sell, and distribute illegal vape products in the US, despite receiving prior warning letters from the FDA. It is worth noting that the DOJ’s defendant list does not currently include any of the Chinese companies or their US subsidiaries responsible for flooding illegal disposable vape products into the US Market. Although this nudge by the DOJ is a very small step towards the enforcement we have been waiting on, by no means has the government even made a dent in the elimination of illegal vape products from the US market.
What if the flow of illegal vape products that are flooding our schools could be stopped overnight?; because it can. Why is our government not stopping the infiltration of these illegal vape products at Customs?
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Operating since 2009, Pure Laboratories (Pure Labs) is a Veteran-Owned state-of-the-art 110,000-sq. ft. manufacturing and distribution facility located in Gainesville, Florida. Nicopure Labs, a subsidiary of Pure Labs, is an industry leading manufacturer of American-Made tobacco and menthol E-liquid products. Nicopure Labs is best known for its award-winning E-liquid and hardware brand, Halo. With a 10,000-sq. ft. cleanroom, Pure Labs is synonymous with quality manufacturing. Pure Labs’ corporate headquarters are based in Tampa Florida, with additional operations located in Europe.
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Samantha Knight Pure Labs [email protected]