Senators grill FDA about vaping

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Senate Republicans and Democrats agree they need to deal with what they call a vaping epidemic impacting kids in the U.S.

"If they could just hook a child at a young age, they had a customer for life," Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said.

Durbin is furious. He says the FDA and the Justice Department are not cracking down on illegal e-cigarettes.

"Twenty-three e-cigarette brands have been authorized for sale in the United States. Yet, there are more than 6000 e-cigarette brands on the market today," Durbin said.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) challenged a witness from the FDA after Durbin showcased a picture: a shelf filled with e-cigs without authorization. The store the picture came from is right near the FDA's headquarters.

"I can't go through every single product on that chart," Brian King, FDA Tobacco Chief, said.

"The point here is this is a shelf full of potentially dangerous substances in a store in the shadow of the FDA building," Tillis said.

According to a CDC report, e-cig usage went down among high school students between 2022 and 2023 but lawmakers know many kids are already addicted to vaping.

"I couldn't spend quality time with my friends without thinking about when we were going to get our next hit," high school student Josie Shapiro said.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) is concerned about the overwhelming number of e-cigs sold in the U.S. that are marketed toward kids and come from China.

"They pose a threat? Could they pose a threat?" Booker asked. "Would say that any of the products, regardless of whether they're coming from China, or not could," King answered.

The FDA says it has a system to review what's in the e-cigs that come from abroad but is overwhelmed by millions of applications for product approval.

"We're making progress getting the applications done, ramping up enforcement. We need more resources and we need more people at the table," King said.