Fake refill pods can now be found at convenience stores across the country. The issue has become so pervasive that it has garnered the attention of a US Senator.
According to an article in the NY Post, Sen. Chuck Schumer warned that counterfeit e-cigarettes made with potentially dangerous ingredients are showing up in the United States and he wants the federal government to crack down on the products to prevent an emergency health crisis.
“That is why, amidst an emerging ‘fake’ e-cig flavor pod explosion I am urging the feds to get real focused: crackdown on illegal online sales, implement plans to more vigorously inspect and detect illegal shipments, and altogether remove these faux pods from the U.S. marketplace,” the New York Democrat said during a news conference on Sunday, according to the article.
Schumer is asking the Food and Drug Administration and Customs and Border Protection to ramp up their efforts to “inspect, detect and stop dangerous and unregulated e-cig products – mainly from China – from gaining access to the US marketplace.”
“As is the case with lots of American ingenuity, China is at it again, copying and cashing in on the popularity of e-cigs here in New York and beyond,” Schumer added, according to the article. “But in the case of dangerous e-cig copycat flavors cooked up in some foreign lab, the stakes are too high and concern the public’s health and safety.”
The senator noted that hundreds of fake Juul e-cigs on their way to the New York area were seized recently.
He said the illegal pods are entering the market in two ways – counterfeits posing as Juul products and illegal pods under another name but still compatible with Juul devices.
Juul products, Schumer said, are popular among youths because of their flavored liquids and because they can be easily concealed because they are identical to a USB flash drive, according to the article.
”Now, counterfeit or ‘fake’ Juul pods, manufactured predominantly in China, are being imported to the U.S. They’re often made in unregulated facilities and with substandard materials. Ingesting and inhaling these counterfeit products can pose great danger to consumers,” Schumer said.
A Juul spokesman said in a statement that the company supports the government stepping up its effort to “fight this urgent problem that exacerbates youth access and undermines public health.”
“We share Senator Schumer’s concern and applaud his efforts as we continue to fight counterfeit and compatible knock-off products that are made with unknown ingredients, under unknown quality and manufacturing standards, and are often sold online without adequate age verification,” it said, according to the article.