Texas is home to some of the nation's highest E-Cigarette or Vaping-Associated Lung Injuries
Dr. Steven Kelder Op-Ed
AUSTIN, Texas (Texas Insider Report) — Texas and the nation are facing a youth vaping crisis. In 2024 alone, 1.6 million middle and high school students across the country reported using e-cigarettes, including 13.8% of Texas students. The rise of vaping – particularly with illegal, flavored vapes from China – poses serious health risks, including addiction, lung damage, and even death.
As a professor at UTHealth Houston and founding member of the CATCH Global Foundation, we work tirelessly to prevent e-cigarette use among young people and ensure they receive the support they need to quit. However, further meaningful progress requires addressing a critical issue: how these products are reaching kids in the first place.
Vape stores and smoke shops are a leading reason for this vaping epidemic.These stores target vulnerable children by marketing these products using appealing flavors and designs. Many also neglect proper age verification, making it easier for minors to access these harmful products. This not only increases youth exposure but also normalizes vaping, reinforcing the false perception that it is a “cool” or desirable behavior.
This issue is especially present in Texas.
The Austin American-Statesman recently reported that flavored vape products, which the FDA banned five years ago, are continuing to be sold in local shops across Central Texas. One owner went so far as to say “every retailer I know just sells (flavored products) under the table.”
Health agencies at the state and federal levels are clear on just how dangerous these products are.
A single Elf Bar, the most popular brand of disposable vape, contains as much nicotine as 590 cigarettes.
These vapes play a significant factor in youth vaping, fueled by thousands of kid-friendly flavors and massive doses of nicotine. That’s why the FDA has essentially banned flavored vapes, to prevent them from becoming a gateway for youth addiction.
- READ MORE: It’s Time for the FDA to Enforce Their Own Illegal & Flavored Vapes Rules
- The surge in e-cigarette use among America's youth is a public health crisis. Flavored vapes – designed to entice young users – remain widely available, pose serious threat to the health of our children, and are a significant risk to Adolescent Brain Development.
Despite the health consequences vapes bring, smoke shops continue to sell them to children. This has contributed to Texas having among the highest number of e-cigarette or vaping use-associated lung injuries (EVALI) in the country – recording over 200 cases.
We are also home to the outbreak’s youngest victim – a 15-year-old boy who died from EVALI in 2020.
Others have also voiced concerns about the health risks posed by illicit drugs sold at these stores. Yet, individually owned stores continue to go ahead and sell these products that directly harm the health of our children.
We are also home to the outbreak’s youngest victim – a 15-year-old boy who died from EVALI in 2020.Others have also voiced concerns about the health risks posed by illicit drugs sold at these stores. Yet, individually owned stores continue to go ahead and sell these products that directly harm the health of our children.
National retail chains understand that products like bubblegum-flavored vapes are designed to addict children, which is why they refuse to sell them. Leading pharmacy stores like CVS have never sold e-cigarettes and vaping devices. Other major retailers have also prohibited the sale of such products. Furthermore, if well-known retailers refuse to sell these products, it raises an important question — why are local vape stores and smoke shops allowed to do so?
To protect our kids, Texas lawmakers should consider measures to disincentivize vape stores and smoke shops to sell illegal Chinese manufactured products. This starts with frequent inspections of vape stores, smoke shops, and convenience stores to identify and shut down businesses that illegally sell to young adults.
The state could also consider stricter penalties, such as revoking licenses and pursuing criminal charges against repeat offenders. Additionally, school programs like UTHealth Houston based CATCH My Breath and MD Anderson public awareness campaigns are essential to educate communities, families, and young people about the dangers of these stores and the dangerous products they distribute.
It is past time that we address the illicit sale of Chinese vapes and other harmful products to minors by vape shops. Too many young lives have already been impacted.
To take the next step in combatting this epidemic, Texas should prioritize efforts to curtail these stores from targeting and selling to kids.
Dr. Steven Kelder, PhD, MPH, is a distinguished professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, known as UTHealth Houston, where he works in the Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics & Environmental Science. He also contributes his expertise to the Austin Regional Campus at the School of Public Health, and is known globally for his child health public health work.
