Cracking down on illicit vape products protects consumers and responsible retailers

For years, Georgia’s reputable retailers have stood on the front lines of a shifting marketplace. We are committed to a single goal of providing our customers with quality products and convenience in service to our community. We take that responsibility seriously, which also means keeping regulated products like nicotine (and alcohol) out of the hands of our kids.

However, over the past few years the shop owners who play by the rules have been forced to compete on an increasingly unlevel playing field with unscrupulous smoke shops that are popping up everywhere. They operate in the gray area by design – often stocking their shelves with illicit products that are untaxed and unregulated. 

We were recently encouraged to see progress and reform in the marketplace, and we started to see a glimpse of what a functional, regulated market could look like. In early May, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the marketing of four new vaping products. But authorization is only half the battle. Right now, the FDA has authorized only 45 vapor products in the entire country. Yet, you can walk into almost any rogue smoke shop or scroll through online platforms and see thousands of unauthorized products that completely ignore basic safety and marketing standards. 

The criminal supply chain has a long track record of changing brands, corporate structure, packaging and strategy to stay one step ahead of law enforcement. As further evidence of this insidious innovation in the illicit market, bad actors are now changing the very chemistry of what’s inside these devices to cheat the system entirely. Illicit distributors have engineered a new fake nicotine chemical known as 6MN, marketing it under various synthetic chemical trade names to fill vapes and mimic the effects of nicotine while circumventing the law. These chemicals are designed explicitly to dodge taxes and bypass youth-protection laws. They are targeting kids using disposable products historically popular with youth according to federal regulators, packing them into colorful, disposable packages with outrageous candy and dessert flavors.

These products are a direct threat to public health and a slap in the face to the law-abiding business owners who make up the Georgia Retailers. While legitimate shop owners do the right thing, these chemically altered alternatives are flooding the market with zero oversight. While there is little known about these substances, researchers from Duke University and Yale University have published studies concluding that “6MN is more potent than nicotine at nicotinic receptors and in its neurotoxicity and lethality to rodents. This suggests that products containing 6MN have higher abuse potential and an elevated risk of adverse events.”  

We need real enforcement with teeth at the local level and the resources to fight this villain on the front lines, and parents, teachers and law enforcement must stay vigilant as these new chemical loopholes creep onto store shelves. While the $200 million in federal funding for tobacco enforcement is a start, we need continued vigilance and coordination among our federal agencies to intercept these illegal shipments at our ports, continue to sound the alarm in our communities and penalize the bad actors. Recent reports about the success of Operation Red Mist illustrate the danger in the criminal supply chain but also the success coming from enhanced enforcement.

The FDA’s recent actions prove that when there is a clear, legal pathway for innovation, we don’t have to choose between protecting kids and providing adults with the opportunity to switch away from traditional cigarettes. But for this to work, the FDA needs to keep moving through its backlog of applications so retailers can include legal, regulated choices on their shelves. 

The path forward is clear. By authorizing legal alternatives and aggressively going after illicit actors, we can protect our children, support adults trying to quit smoking and keep Georgia’s retail economy strong and lawful.