Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr is concerned that illegal disposable e-vapor products are inundating Georgia’s communities and endangering youth across the state. He recently wrote a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to request that the agency take further action to address this matter and ensure that they are providing additional clarification regarding the sale of disposable e-cigarettes in kid-friendly flavors and strengthening enforcement efforts as it relates to unregulated e-cigarettes from foreign markets.
“Flavored disposable e-cigarettes are uniquely positioned to devastate our children due to their child-friendly flavors and high doses of nicotine,” said Carr.
“Every day that the FDA does not take further action, we risk the health and safety of our children who will get their hands on these illegal and addictive products,” Carr continued. “Foreign markets, most notably China, are flooding our state with unregulated e-cigarettes at an alarming rate, and it is past time our federal government take additional steps to address this issue. With child-friendly flavors and high doses of nicotine, these disposal e-cigarettes are uniquely positioned to devastate our kids, and we must do all we can to protect them.”
In his letter, Carr said he is hopeful that this action by the FDA will have some impact on the degree of unregulated foreign e-cigarettes seen in Georgia. He went on to say that Chinese manufacturers are shipping these products to our shores at an alarming rate.
“Without stronger enforcement actions and collaboration with the FDA’s enforcement division on the state and local level, I fear that millions of illegal disposable vapor products will continue to fall into the hands of our children,” said Carr.
As mentioned in Carr’s letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, China shipped 700 million harmful e-cigarettes to the United States just last year.
While the FDA recently issued an import alert and warning letters to some of the most popular brands of flavored disposable e-cigarettes, Carr notes, “The FDA’s recent warning specifically references Esco Bars but does not more broadly address certain other brands in the marketplace… Additionally, consumers are uncertain about which flavored disposable products have been authorized by federal authorities… This fog created by the FDA’s approach, combined with enforcement challenges at the state and local levels, has created a climate where bad actors may continue to exploit the system.”
