Virginia attorney general urges FDA to tighten vape oversight and create a legal product directory

Virginia’s attorney general has urged the FDA to strengthen oversight of e-cigarettes, noting that illegal products may be laced with fentanyl and pose a threat to public health.

According to a WSET report on November 10, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares sent a letter to the Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), calling for tighter regulation of illegal electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), such as e-cigarettes and vape atomizers. 

Miyares emphasized that although efforts have been made to restrict minors’ access to ENDS products, there is currently no centralized enforcement mechanism or licensing system to hold stores accountable. He also said that a large number of illegal counterfeit ENDS products are being imported into the United States from China, and these products may be laced with fentanyl, posing a threat to public health. 

Under Attorney General Miyares’s proposal, the FDA should establish a transparent, regularly updated directory listing all legal and regulated ENDS products on the market. This measure is intended to empower state legislatures to create their own comprehensive retail licensing programs, modeled on the way tobacco is regulated. 

Miyares pointed out that the lack of a regulatory framework for the ENDS market, along with the absence of authoritative oversight of retailers and distributors, has led sales of these products to double since January 2020.