Opinion: Protecting Missouri’s youth from illegal vaping

Vape safety has been a top-of-mind issue for Missourians for years. In 2019, Governor Mike Parson signed an Executive Order launching a statewide campaign to educate youth about the dangers of vaping. Now, the ITC is set to make the problem even worse, as Chinese companies will have almost no competition in the U.S. market.

About 4.47 million youth in Missouri use vaping products, which have been the most commonly used tobacco product since 2014. Since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) started monitoring illnesses associated with vaping and e-cigarettes in 2019, they have reported 2,087 hospitalizations or deaths over the course of about six months.

The American Lung Association has dubbed Missouri one of the worst states for controlling the massive growth in vape and e-cigarette use.

“The need for Missouri to take action to protect youth from all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, is more urgent than ever, with the youth vaping epidemic continuing its alarming rise to 27.5%. This is a staggering 135% increase in high school e-cigarette use in just the past two years, and close to three million more kids started vaping in that time period, setting them up for a lifetime of addiction,” the group reports.

It’s not vaping itself that’s a problem — President Trump wants to legalize flavored vapes, and for good reason. The issue is the dangerous illegal products that China continues smuggling into our state and marketing to our children. 

Chinese vaping companies would like nothing more than to see legal U.S. e-cigarette companies eliminated from the market. Currently, unregulated Chinese vapes account for over half of the U.S. market, all without any FDA oversight. Almost 40% of disposable e-cigarettes sold in the U.S. are produced by Chinese companies with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), generating $5.3 billion each year for China’s State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA). The U.S. is essentially funding the CCP, and this situation will only become worse if the ITC allows China to eliminate all its U.S. competition.

China knows exactly what it’s doing to our youth. In their own country, these specific flavored vape products are banned even as they export $22 billion in vape products. The blatant hypocrisy doesn’t stop there. While in 2022 the STMA issued a rule requiring that manufacturers comply with the country’s e-cigarette regulations, the organization has turned right around and exported massive amounts of illegal vapes into our country.

China purposely evades FDA regulations by lying about the products they are exporting, intentionally marking them as “battery chargers” or “flashlights.” Manufacturers work with distributors to hide the fact that they are distributing e-cigarettes and vapes, or mark the value incorrectly in order to evade taxes.

There is a massive international racket going on right under our noses, and our children’s health is on the line. The FDA must extend their regulations to the Chinese e-cigarettes and vapes coming into our country, cracking down on their deception and lies. And President Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick must redirect the ITC’s efforts away from legal U.S. companies to the Chinese companies flouting our laws within the 60-day override window available to him. 

Finally, Missouri representatives need to take this fight to Washington. Representative Jason Smith, who is on the House Ways and Means Committee, is uniquely positioned to introduce a bill saving Missouri kids from unregulated, dangerous Chinese vapes. Rep. Smith should respond to Missouri voters’ concerns about their kids’ health and work to regulate Chinese tobacco products just as strictly as the government regulates American tobacco products