Hawaiʻi Attorney General Lopez warns of sales of illegal tobacco products, mostly from China

Hawaiʻi Attorney General Anne Lopez is sending letters to more than 800 Hawaiʻi tobacco retailers and distributors about the distribution and sale of illegal tobacco products. Most of the products originate in China and include electronic smoking devices known as vapes or e-cigarettes and oral tobacco pouch products.

Lopez’s public outreach is part of a coordinated, bipartisan effort led by a coalition of 10 attorneys general from around the country to hold companies accountable for unlawfully manufacturing, distributing, selling and marketing flavored disposable e-cigarette products, especially to young people.

These products often contain dangerously high amounts of nicotine and come in a myriad of kid-friendly flavors, playful shapes, bright colors; some even include video games that encourage young consumers to earn virtual coins by vaping. To date, these products are the most widely used tobacco product among youth, jeopardizing their health and well-being. 

The US Food and Drug Administration must authorize all tobacco products sold in the United States. Now, only 34 e-cigarettes and 24 oral nicotine products have been authorized by the FDA to be sold in the United States.

The 24 oral nicotine products include 20 nicotine pouch products authorized by the FDA as of Jan. 16. Although new e-cigarettes require FDA authorization, the US market has been flooded with flavored disposable e-cigarettes.

Flavored disposable e-cigarette products commonly found in the marketplace are largely manufactured and imported illegally into the United States from China. The companies that manufacture and distribute these products have declined to participate in the FDA mandated marketing order process, and these products are considered adulterated and unlawful for sale.

“These illegal products may contain dangerous ingredients not listed on the packaging. E-cigarettes typically contain lithium-ion batteries that have been linked to burns and explosion-related injuries. The Department of the Attorney General is recommending all retailers and distributors in Hawaiʻi to remove any tobacco products not authorized for sale by the FDA,” said Rich Stacey, a deputy attorney general with the department’s Criminal Justice Division Tobacco Enforcement Unit.

The letter also reminds people that e-cigarettes and e-liquids are included in the Cigarette Tax and Tobacco Tax Law (Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes Chapter 245). Wholesalers and dealers of these products are required to have a tobacco license issued by the Hawaiʻi Department of Taxation. The tax department may suspend, revoke or decline to renew any tobacco license for good cause, which may include instances where the licensee failed to comply with federal law.   

Retailers and distributors, found to be knowingly selling these illegal tobacco products, could be subject to federal investigations and penalties.

To report businesses that may be selling these unauthorized and illegal e-cigarettes and vaping products, the public is urged to contact the Department of the Attorney General’s Tobacco Enforcement Unit at: atg.tobacco@hawaii.gov.

See copies of the letters from Attorney General Anne Lopez to retailers and distributors as well as a list of FDA-authorized e-cigarettes and tobacco products that are legal to sell in the United States.  

Attorney General Anne Lopez joins the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Ohio and Washington, D.C., in this action.