Our next president must stop the flood of illegal disposable vapes

Earlier this year, I ran for Washoe County School Board because the establishment wasn’t keeping our schools’ learning environments safe for our students — free of violence, drugs, and bullying. While significant policy change is still needed to address these broader issues, I believe the continued growth of illegal vape usage among children should be curtailed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Yet, they have failed time and again to take action and protect our children from illegal Chinese disposable vapes.

While we should be encouraged that the rate of vaping among teens continues to decline, the problem persists fueled by the rise of illicit, disposable e-cigarettes that have infiltrated schools across the country. Unscrupulous Chinese manufacturers and their U.S. accomplices are preying on our children by marketing candy flavored vapes and packaging them like toys or video games to hide from parents and teachers. Communities are crying out for help, and we’re approaching the almost one-year anniversary of Washoe County stepping up to address this ourselves given the federal government’s apathy.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), three illegal brands of disposable vapes make up nearly three-quarters of all e-cigarette products used by American youth. The CDC’s most recent data was trumpeted as a victory by the FDA, but their misplaced celebration belies reality: The federal government’s efforts to curb illegal disposable vaping products have been an abject failure.

In July, a Senate hearing uncovered that, despite the growing urgency, the federal government has failed to put together a robust enforcement strategy to tackle this issue. The FDA's interagency task force, created to address illegal disposable vaping products, has yet to fully engage with state law enforcement, leaving many states scrambling to address the crisis on their own. This bureaucratic inertia has allowed illegal disposable vapes to proliferate unchecked, driving their use among middle and high school students to alarming levels.

Federal agencies claim they are "addressing" the issue, and that youth vaping is in decline. The troubling truth is that use of illegal vapes among teenagers has increased 125% since 2020, driven by illegal disposable products smuggled from China. Yet, the federal response has amounted to little more than warning letters and the occasional seizure of shipments. This piecemeal approach will not be enough to stem the tide of these dangerous products flooding our communities. Moreover, it certainly won’t solve the problem if elected officials continue to blame state and federal law enforcement rather than working with them to fix it.

Despite being illegal, these disposable products remain widely available because federal agencies have not prioritized their removal from store shelves or seized enough shipments at U.S. borders. According to the FDA’s Brian King, enforcement actions are being held "in the queue," waiting for bureaucratic processes that prioritize paperwork over children's lives.

The next administration must tackle this head-on and succeed where the current administration has failed. Our children can’t afford four more years of failure. The federal government must move forthcoming enforcement efforts out of bureaucratic limbo and into action by deploying the interagency task force to work hand-in-hand with state and local law enforcement. It's time to prioritize the safety of our children over bureaucratic delays.

At present, state and local governments have been left to fill the gap in federal leadership. Some states have taken the initiative to create product directories to track and ban illegal vaping products. This is an important step but without robust federal enforcement and oversight, the illicit market will continue to thrive, and children will continue to suffer.

This is not just a public health issue — it is a moral issue. Children, who should be protected by the government, are instead being left vulnerable to these predatory manufacturers.

As a mom and grandma, I know what our teachers and law enforcement know: Students cannot learn in environments of threats, violence, drugs and bullying. If the next administration continues this track record of incompetence and fails to contain the rise of illegal disposable vapes, it will be complicit in jeopardizing the health and safety of an entire generation of American youth. The time for action is now. We can, and must, do better.

Victoria Myer is a business owner in Reno and a former school board candidate.

Have your say:How to submit an opinion column or letter to the editor