New Jersey's division of consumer affairs recently sent warning letters to nearly 11,000 businesses that were illegally selling flavored vapor products in the state, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said Friday. New Jersey banned the sale of these products in 2020.
The warning letters were issued as part of a coordinated multistate enforcement initiative targeting the unlawful sale of flavored e-cigarettes, vape pens and accessories. New Jersey joined California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Vermont and Washington, D.C., in the enforcement effort.
“Flavored vaping products are hooking a new generation on nicotine, putting millions of kids at risk and undermining decades of progress in reducing adolescent tobacco use,” said Cari Fais, director of New Jersey’s division of consumer affairs. “Together with our partner states, we’re putting retailers on notice that we will not allow them to profit by breaking our laws and putting consumers—including the youngest and most vulnerable—at risk.”
These states are using a range of tools, including warning letters, subpoenas, civil investigative demands and lawsuits, to target companies involved in importing, distributing, selling and marketing flavored e-cigarettes, the New Jersey attorney general’s office said in a statement. The states are taking these steps to enforce their respective licensing and consumer protection laws to go after the companies responsible for importing, distributing, selling and marketing flavored disposable e-cigarettes, according to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul's website.
In its letter to New Jersey retailers, the division warned that offering or selling vapor products characterized by a flavor, taste or aroma other than tobacco—including mint, menthol, and wintergreen—in violation of the flavored vape ban is a violation of New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act (CFA) and punishable by up to $10,000 for the first violation and $20,000 for each subsequent violation.
In August 2024, New Jersey’s division of consumer affairs issued notices of violation with assessed civil monetary penalties of $4,500 each against 19 retailers for alleged CFA violations in the offer or sale of flavored vapor products.
On the federal level, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary issued a statement in September encouraging retailers to stop selling illegal vapes.
Makary said that as much as 54% of vaping products sold nationally are illegal and contain chemicals such as formaldehyde, lead and acrolein—materials more commonly found in industrial textiles and pesticides.
To date the FDA has authorized 39 e-cigarette products, including some menthol-flavored products. These are the only e-cigarette products that currently may be legally marketed and sold in the United States.
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