Illicit Chinese vapes have flooded into the United States by the millions. These black-market products are laced with toxins and put users, especially kids, at risk of nicotine poisoning and life-threatening lung damage. They have never undergone FDA review. Smugglers move them across the border and through ports as part of the same illicit trade criminal networks already run. From there, they reach American teenagers through retailers that assume no one is checking. The smugglers do not care whether a 13-year-old ends up with one.
Federal agents can intercept shipments at the border, but what slips through lands on neighborhood shelves. States are now closing that gap. Legislatures are enacting directory laws that cut off the supply of illegal vapes, close loopholes, and attach penalties with real teeth.
Those laws are moving from statute books to store shelves. Virginia’s enhanced enforcement provisions took effect in October: Any vape product absent from the Attorney General’s directory is now contraband, subject to seizure and destruction, with civil penalties of at least $5,000 per product for a first violation. Louisiana’s law is already in effect and enforced by its Alcohol and Tobacco Control office. Pennsylvania’s directory takes effect Oct. 19, after which unlisted nicotine vapes may not be sold and are subject to seizure. North Carolina’s law is in force, with enforcement beginning Nov. 1 by Alcohol Law Enforcement, the State Bureau of Investigation, local police, and the Department of Revenue; the Fourth Circuit upheld it against challenge earlier this year. Iowa’s Department of Revenue and the attorney general will begin enforcement of the new law on Nov. 16.
In an otherwise polarized environment, cracking down on illegal vapes commands broad support. A Fabrizio Ward survey of 1,000 registered voters in the 28 most competitive House districts found that 80% favor a crackdown on illegal vapes made in China, and 65% hold that view intensely. Support for specific enforcement actions, from border seizures to action against retailers, exceeds 90% among President Donald Trump voters and reaches at least 70% among Harris voters.
That support is strongest against smoke shops that sell to minors. Voters draw a clear distinction between legitimate retailers and businesses that break the law. Law-abiding shops are the ones most harmed by competitors willing to stock illegal product.
The Trump administration has already acted at the federal level. Under Operation Red Mist, DHS, Customs and Border Protection, the Coast Guard, and the FDA have targeted maritime cargo from China and seized more than 18 million illegal vapes valued at over $175 million. Border interdiction is necessary but incomplete. What remains requires state and local enforcement.
State attorneys general, sheriffs, police chiefs, and local prosecutors should begin systematic enforcement now rather than wait for a public failure. Retailers selling to minors warrant the first and most visible action. The smugglers and distributors supplying them warrant sustained investigation, not a one-time sweep.
ILLICIT VAPES FLOODED OUR BORDERS. THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS FIGHTING BACK
As enforcement tightens on nicotine vapes, manufacturers are already shifting to analogs, Chinese lab-made chemicals engineered to mimic nicotine’s effects while falling just outside federal tobacco rules. These products are sold in the same candy and fruit flavors that appeal to kids, often without age verification, and may be more potent and addictive than the nicotine they replace. Louisiana’s and North Carolina’s laws address analogs; Iowa’s and Pennsylvania’s do not yet, with analog provisions scheduled for 2027. Reporting shows some manufacturers are swapping in synthetic compounds that often contain heavy metals or known carcinogens. Because these products are unregulated, no one knows precisely what is in them, raising the risk of overdose and dangerous side effects from unknown compounds. The same shops and supply chains moving illegal vapes today can move analogs tomorrow.
During my time at DHS, we worked to keep illicit Chinese vapes out of American communities. Stopping them at the border is only half the fight. State legislatures have now given enforcers the tools to clear illegal vapes from shelves. Other states should pass directory laws of their own, and every state should maintain pressure on enforcement while closing the analog gap before it widens. Our kids are at stake.
Tricia McLaughlin previously served as the Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman under the second Trump administration.