Chinese vape makers use legal loophole to replace nicotine, ex-ATF official warns

A former top law enforcement officer is warning of an attempt by illegal Chinese vape companies to exploit legal loopholes with unregulated nicotine replacement to continue selling disposable flavored vapes to children.

“These Chinese organized crime groups, realizing that if they go ahead and change the ingredients in the package, then they create confusion and there is no enforcement or regulatory agency responsible for dealing with these illegal, illegal, disposable vapes,” said the former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The synthetic compound, 6-methyl nicotine, also known as 6MN or “NIX,” is a nicotine analog marketed under brand names including Nixodine and Metatine, with some manufacturers resisting 6-methyl nicotine products without Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval.

Domenech, a former sheriff of New York City, said that while nicotine is a known addiction that is regulated by the FDA, the area of ​​nicotine “made illegally in China” is an “unknown variable” that has not been studied enough.

FORMER DHS ACTING SECRETARY WARNS CHINESE CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVING AMERICAN HEMP IDEA

“It’s a different kind of thing,” he said. “Now, all of a sudden, the FDA has no oversight, but it’s the same product. It’s a disposable vape product with flavors targeting our children and our youth with unknown chemicals.”

Pointing to the role of law enforcement in the fight against illegal trade, Domenech said companies are creating “confusion” by changing product ingredients, causing law enforcement and regulatory agencies to “do nothing.”

“Organized crime groups – they’re five steps ahead of us,” he said. “By changing the object, we are now creating more obstacles for them to find.”

Domenech said companies keep the same branding, packaging, and flavors while changing one ingredient, which allows them to capitalize on children who may not see what they’re eating.

CHINA’S ADDICTION OF AMERICAN COMPANY HAS BECOME A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT

A woman holds a Puff Bar flavored vape device in New York City, Jan. 31, 2020. (Photo by Marshall Ritzel/AP)

“They put these products aside in these supermarkets, because the packaging is the same,” he said. “All they did was change one of the ingredients in the product.”

Domenech said companies are targeting “our youngest, most vulnerable generation” with disposable vapes that contain chemicals with unknown long-term health effects.

“They guided our youth with flavors,” he said. “Whether it’s fruit flavors, candy-type flavors, dessert flavors. They’re guiding our kids to go ahead and eat these products with unknown consequences because we don’t know what’s in them to begin with.”

With youth vaping on the rise, Domenech said some schools have installed bathroom sensors to detect the increase, adding, “We have 11-year-olds, 12-year-olds, 14-year-olds vaping these products.”

EXPLOSIVE HOUSE REPORT DEMONSTRATES COVERT OPERATIONS WITHIN CHINA DURING SOUTH KOREA’S WAR WITH US COMPANY

A selection of colorful disposable vapes on display for sale at a souvenir shop in London, Jan. 29, 2024. (Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP)

He said the products could lead to “unknown health and mental health issues down the line.”

“There is nothing healthy about vapes that are illegally disposed of and have a smell directed at our children,” he said.

A recent Duke University study found that 6-methyl nicotine may be stronger than nicotine, raising concerns that it may be more addictive. A list of public ownership records Geoff Habicht, CEO of Arizona-based Mi-Pod, which Fox News Digital previously reported as part of an investigation into the relationship between the vaping industry and China, as the inventor of US patents referring to 6-methyl nicotine and related compounds.

Raising awareness among lawmakers, health professionals, parents, and schools is critical to closing regulatory gaps and preventing more children from using the products, according to Domenech.

“Education is important for us to fight this issue,” he said. “We must educate our policy makers, educate our health experts, educate our parents, the education system makes them understand that these products are illegal, they have unknown substances that can have unknown effects, health effects.”

Domenech said lawmakers and law enforcement need clear guidance to identify and seize the products.

“We must make a big effort to educate our policy makers at the government level but also at the government and local levels because we need boots on the ground to understand what they can legally do in confiscating these products,” he said.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS PROGRAM

Domenech called the companies a “national security problem,” saying the products “should be seized when they enter the country, period.”

“We are losing our future generation, our future leaders in this product,” he said.