Crackdown on Vapes Falling Short, Report Finds

Posted April 13, 2026

Crackdown on Vapes Falling Short, Report Finds

Efforts to crack down on illegal e-cigs in the U.S. may not be keeping pace with sales, a new government report suggests.

The report, from the Government Accountability Office, found that enforcement actions by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) have been relatively lackluster, given how large the issue is.

Between 2022 and 2025, the DOJ took 88 enforcement actions tied to illegal e-cigs.

Most of those (about 50 cases) involved adding online sellers to a list of unauthorized businesses.

Another 20 were legal orders aimed at stopping violations, STAT News reported.

Illegal vaping products are still widely available. As of June 2024, about 6,000 e-cigarette products were being sold in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Only 41 of those have been cleared for sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Many of the unapproved products are flavored with fruit or candy, which experts say can attract younger users.

About 1.6 million children in the U.S. still use e-cigarettes and federal agencies have seized millions of illegal products.

The FDA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection confiscated more than 6 million e-cigarettes between 2024 and 2025.

That represents only a small share of what enters the country, according to experts.

One 2024 seizure included about 3 million vapes worth $76 million, representing just 4% of China’s e-cigarette exports to the U.S. in a single month, Steven Xu, an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Waterloo who studies e-cigarettes, told STAT News.

“This GAO report helps shed light on FDA and DOJ’s failure to protect children from a lifetime of nicotine addiction," U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat who requested the report, told STAT News. "Despite court mandates and congressional deadlines, thousands of dangerous, kid-friendly e-cigarettes are still on the market illegally."

But Kathy Crosby, president and CEO of the anti-nicotine addiction nonprofit Truth Initiative, said that "this is a national problem that requires a coordinated federal response, backed by the full weight of federal regulatory and enforcement authority.”

Most illegal vapes are sold in physical locations like gas stations and vape shops, not just online.

“There is a mismatch between DOJ’s resources and the actual retail landscape,” Xu told STAT News.

A federal task force launched in 2024 aims to improve enforcement efforts.

Some experts say focusing on distributors, or the middlemen who supply these stores, could be the best move.

More information

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has more on efforts to encourage retailers to stop selling illegal vapes.

SOURCE: STAT News, April 10, 2026