Senators blast health and law enforcement officials over illegal e-cigarettes used by teens
abcnews.go.comSenators criticized top federal officials over the rise of illegal electronic cigarettes in the U.S., a multibillion-dollar business that has flourished in recent years
WASHINGTON — Senators on Wednesday blasted top health and law enforcement officials for not doing more to combat the rise of illegal electronic cigarettes in the U.S., a multibillion-dollar business that has flourished amid haphazard enforcement.
Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee expressed frustration and exasperation while questioning officials from the Food and Drug Administration and Justice Department about attempts to stay on top of the vaping industry, which has grown to include thousands of flavored, unauthorized e-cigarettes originating in China.
Those products, including brands like Elf Bar, have become the most popular choice among American teens who vape.
“I simply do not understand how FDA and DOJ have permitted thousands of products to remain on store shelves when their manufacturers have not received authorization, or, in some cases, even filed an application,” said the committee's chairman, Dick Durbin.
The Illinois Democrat displayed a photo of a shelf stocked with brightly colored e-cigarettes, including ones in dragon fruit and watermelon bubblegum flavors, which he said a Senate staffer took at a vape shop near the FDA's Maryland campus.
“These illegal products, clearly designed for children by their flavors, are being sold in the shadow of FDA’s building," Durbin said. «How is that allowed to happen?”
FDA's tobacco chief, Brian King, said the agency has been slowed by a backlog of applications submitted by vape companies seeking U.S. approval, which regulators are legally required to review.
“The sheer volume
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