Vaping has soared in popularity over the past several years, despite efforts on the part of the federal government to crack down on what can be sold and by whom.
Disposable vapes, usually imported from China, are a huge part of the issue, and even though they’re illegal, they’re being sold at gas station and convenience stores all over the United States.
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The reason? A loophole in the sweeping FDA ban that excludes disposable vapes.
These types of vapes now make up 40% of the market, with around 5800 flavors available. Where there’s that kind of market increase, there are people clamoring to cash in says Robert Jackler, a Stanford University professor.
“If you have $5 billion you probably can’t start a traditional cigarette company. But if you have $50,000 you can just send your artwork and logo to one of these companies and it will be on a pallet next week.”
Aside from the obvious health concerns related to vaping, the FDA has no way to know how safe the pens themselves are, either, so they’re scrambling to do inspections and block imports when necessary.
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Dorian Fuhrman, co-founder of Parents Against Vaping E-cigarettes, says the Chinese aren’t the only culprits, and that American tobacco companies are equally as insidious.
“They want groups like ours to call for a ban on all Chinese vapes so that they can take over the market. We’re not calling for that. We’re calling on the FDA to do it’s job.”
It sounds like that job is going to take a whole lot of time, energy, and red tape – but also, it sounds like it would be worth it.