FDA Commissioner Sounds Alarm on Illegal Chinese Nicotine Vapes

Dr. Robert Califf, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner, testified about the ongoing proliferation of illegal Chinese nicotine vaporizers, or “vapes,” and potential upcoming regulations on menthol cigarettes at a congressional budget hearing on April 18.

The commissioner fielded questions on drug and food testing, prescription drug shortages, plans by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to reschedule marijuana, domestic drug manufacturing, infant formula contamination, FDA budget constraints, and the drug overdose epidemic.

However, most of the discussion focused on illicit tobacco products, such as illegally imported Chinese nicotine vaporizers, and on the societal impacts of menthol cigarettes, particularly within the black community.

Reps Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Lauren Underwood (D-Ill) asked about the FDA’s intention to prohibit menthol cigarettes, noting how the cooling effects of menthol make it easier to hook users on tobacco and how companies have used these products to disproportionately target the black community.

The commissioner, citing his decades of work as a cardiologist, said tobacco is one of the FDA’s biggest health concerns as it kills more than 480,000 Americans every year.

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