If you search online, you can find certain products based on characters such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear and Nintendo’s Mario. They aren’t toys, and they aren’t legal. They’re vapes.
This week, the U.S Food and Drug Administration sent letters to 15 online retailers for selling these unauthorized vapes, also known as e-cigarettes, used for inhaling nicotine products.
Per the FDA, the products are “packaged to look like youth-appealing characters, school supplies, toys, and drinks,” and “the agency is also seeking to raise awareness among parents, teachers, and other adults headed into the new school year.”
In 2019, then President Donald Trump signed legislation amending the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to raise the federal minimum age for sale of tobacco products – including e-cigarettes – from 18 to 21 years. However, by last year research conducted by the FDA and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 16.5% of high school students and 4.5% of middle school students used some type of tobacco product.
“Many people are not aware just how common nicotine vaping has become among teens,” said Richard Miech, a research professor at the Institute for Social Research who conducted a recent study on vape use in young Americans. “Its use increased rapidly in 2018 and 2019, and it has stuck around since then. What began as an epidemic of teen vaping is on its way to becoming endemic.”
Miech also said that while e-cigarettes can help adults with an existing nicotine addiction, vaping can affect brain development in adolescents. It can also create lasting physical addiction and prime the brain for future substance use.
“Further, emerging evidence suggests that e-cigarettes may come with their own health risks, such as damage to blood vessels,” said the University of Michigan.
Retailers who received letters this week from the FDA related to the vaping products targeted at young consumers were given 15 days to respond with the steps they intend to take to correct their violation and prevent future violations. If they fail to comply, the retailers face additional actions by the FDA, including injunction, seizure, and/or civil money penalties.
“The design of these products is a shamelessly egregious attempt to target kids,” said Brian King, director of FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. “It’s a tough sell that adults using e-cigarettes to transition away from cigarettes need them to look like SpongeBob in order to do so successfully.”
Ann Simoneau, director of the Office of Compliance and Enforcement within FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said the FDA continues to monitor all those in the supply chain, including retailers, for compliance. Those who violate the federal law will face consequences. So far this year, the FDA has issued approximately 600 warning letters to firms for manufacturing and/or distributing illegal tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. It has also filed civil money penalty complaints against 26 e-cigarette manufacturers, and sought injunctions against 6 e-cigarette manufacturers with help from the U.S. Department of Justice.
“As youth head back to school across the United States, it is important for parents, teachers, and other adults to be aware of these illegal youth-appealing products, which can be deceiving and easily concealed,” said the FDA. Resources for parents and teachers are available through the Vaping Prevention and Education and Resource Center.
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