Gil Kerlikowske: As the school year begins, FDA must step up to protect U.S. kids from illegal vapes

As the new school year begins, students across Washington state will face the usual challenges of academics, sports, and social life. But this year, there’s an added threat lurking in backpacks and lockers: illegal, disposable e-cigarettes. Despite the best efforts of parents and teachers to educate our youth about the dangers of these products, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is not doing enough to keep them out of our schools.

Manufacturers in China have exploited weak enforcement in the United States to target our children with illegal, disposable e-cigarettes with flavors like cotton candy, cherry punch and bubble gum. This isn’t just about breaking the law – it’s about hooking a new generation on nicotine, undermining public health efforts, and reversing decades of progress in reducing teen smoking rates.

In my time as director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy during the Obama administration, we observed continued declines in teen smoking. However, much of that progress is being undone by the rise of illegal flavored disposable e-cigarettes. According to the latest National Youth Tobacco Survey, disposable vape use among U.S. high school students has surged by 1,336% since 2019. And 90% of these products are imported from China, a country that has ironically banned the sale of flavored vapes within its own borders. This hypocrisy is unacceptable, and it underscores the urgent need for stricter enforcement.

This is a bipartisan issue. James Carroll, who served as the drug czar under President Trump, has also expressed concerns about the FDA’s failure to protect American children from these illegal imports. Leaders from both sides of the aisle agree: The FDA must do more to prevent illegal disposable vapes from reaching store shelves and, ultimately, our schools.

Washington state is facing particularly alarming trends. According to the state Department of Health, youth e-cigarette use reached a staggering 21.2% in 2018. As the new school year begins, students will once again be exposed to these illegal products, which are often easy to hide from parents and teachers – some even designed to resemble toys or school supplies. While parents and educators will do their best to keep these dangerous products out of schools, they cannot do it alone.

It’s time for the Biden-Harris administration and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to do more to stop the flow of these dangerous products into our country, get them off store shelves and keep them away from vulnerable kids and teens.

Gil Kerlikowske served as the nation’s “drug czar,” during President Barack Obama’s administration, and is the former chief of police in Seattle. Kerlikowske was instrumental in shaping U.S. drug policy, focusing on public health and drug treatment programs, as well as law enforcement. He resides in Charleston, South Carolina.