Florida Lawmakers Grill FDA Over its Response to Illegal Chinese Vape Products

A bipartisan group of Florida lawmakers has criticized the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, for not regulating Chinese vapes and other illegal substances currently flooding unchecked into the U.S. marketplace.

"It's inexcusable. They shouldn't be dragging their feet. Illegal products are illegal products, and they shouldn't be sold on the U.S. market," U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., told The Floridian.

Furthermore, Rep. Gimenez questioned the FDA's passive action against foreign companies, all while seemingly expediting their response against American companies.

"It's seems that they are really quick against American corporations, but they're not all that quick to act against adversarial corporations. I just think that's interesting," Gimenez added.

Like Gimenez, U.S. Rep Debbie Wasserman Schultz issued her own warning against Chinese vaping products on U.S. shelves in an interview with The Floridian on Capitol Hill.

"There are premarket vaping products that actually market to children that are produced with flavors including menthol, and the FDA is supposed to be going through a procedure that would get those off the shelves," Wasserman Schultz said. "They're on the shelves illegally. They don't have approval and they're dragging their feet."

Despite being on different sides of the aisle, both Reps. Gimenez and Wasserman Schultz acknowledged the FDA hasn't been keen on tackling the issue.

"I don't know why it's taking so long, particularly when it comes to the menthol products. We know that flavors hook kids, and this is all designed by big tobacco to make sure that because fewer people are smoking, they can replace those former smokers with vape addicts," Wasserman Schultz added.

The sluggish response has prompted Wasserman Schultz to also demand more answers.

"It's outrageous. It's unacceptable. And I'm going to be co-leading a letter as I do every year to the FDA to continue to put pressure on them to make sure that they move this process faster so that we can get those products that are so incredibly harmful and illegal off the shelves," Wasserman Schultz continued.

Along with Wasserman Schultz, U.S. Rep. Scott Franklin also stated Congress has been pressing the federal government to get ahead of the problem.

"All the guidance about our act subcommittee has been asking the administration about this over and over again repeatedly on both sides of the aisle," Rep. Franklin said in speaking to The Floridian. This isn't Republicans getting after the Biden administration, everybody is saying why are we not doing a better job of policing this stuff?"

During a hearing in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Rep. Neal Dunn (R) took Director of the FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) to task, peppering with key questions aimed at pressuring the government agency on what exactly they were doing to deal with the. black market they appear to have created.

"I'll say that illegal Chinese vapes is tremendous. I'm expecting fentanyl to be the next major brand any day I'm hopefully FDA will refocus resources maybe information resources with CBP and the retailers whatever to make sure they're going after the very bad actors that we we have in this market," said Rep. Dunn.

With students returning to school classrooms across the state, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody issued a warning to parents in August about the dangers of laced vapes and other illicit substances.

“As millions of children prepare to head back to school, I’m urging parents to speak to their kids about the dangers of using drugs. While Florida leads the nation in fentanyl interdiction efforts and reports are showing an overall statewide decrease in overdose deaths, there are concerning nationwide trends involving youth overdosing and dying from substance abuse," Moody said in a press release. "Please emphasize the importance of never using illicit substances like counterfeit pills or illicit vapes—they could contain fentanyl, and just one pill can kill.”

According to the National Insitute on Drug Abuse, or NIDA, deaths contributed to fentanyl continue to rise. The substance also has appeared in vapes, including in Volusia County Schools in 2023.

Along with lawmakers, the problem also has been raised by Florida Retail Federation President and CEO Scott Shalley, who called on the FDA to "step up on their efforts" on the issue.

The association also stated Florida is the No. 1 state for illegal Chinese vapes.

According to a poll conducted by the AIF Center for Political Strategy, Floridians are in favor of selling safe nicotine products as opposed to deadly cigarettes. Specifically, the poll found 63% agreed with letting consumers choose less harmful nicotine products than tobacco.

Moreover, the AIF reportedly noted particular support for alternatives in Northwest Florida.

"We need to make sure that any products that are getting into the hands of our young people are safe. The FDA needs do its job to process and clear safe and appropriate products and allow law enforcement to be able to distinguish between those things that are safe and legal in the U.S and those things that need to be interdicted and stopped as their coming into our country," said U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla.