Oh, well, they are not stopping now, and this time, it’s a full-blown war! A number of federal officials, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Health and Human Services Secretary, are touting the physical clampdown of illegal vapes being sold across the US. This time, it’s not about sending warning letters or paper; it’s all physical now.

So, earlier in September 2025, federal officials went to Illinois and seized over 600,000 vape products declared unauthorized and illegal. Remember that the FDA has since warned that any vape product not on its whitelist is automatically illegal, and sadly, many of the popular vapes sold across the country never made the whitelist.

Vape stores are now hosting sales events to ensure they sell out their stock as fast as possible; there are a lot of mouth-watering discounts to enjoy now, you can’t afford to miss out!

What’s Happening to Local Vape Retailers in the US?

Well, nothing far from the expected. For over 3 years now, there have been several sanctions and warnings about the incessant growth of youth vapers, which pushed the FDA to come up with certain measures to curb the surge. States also enacted bills and laws to restrict how these vapes are sold, which products can be sold, and the age bracket they should never be sold to.

However, the whole warnings and laws didn’t seem to achieve the intended purpose, as vapers and retailers have consistently found a way to circumvent the restrictions, leveraging the loopholes in these laws.

Not like the FDA or the State authorities aren’t aware that the people are leveraging these loopholes, but they allowed a shit-ton of time for everyone to come to terms with the new laws and regulations before full-blown enforcement.

Earlier this year, 2025, many States tightened the loopholes in their vape sale policies and product validity. States like Wisconsin, Texas, Massachusetts, California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Minnesota have all banned flavored vapes, with strict sales approval for FDA-approved vapes only.

In Illinois, Wisconsin, and even Texas, the deadline for compliance with the state's laws and rules for vape sales elapsed on September 1, 2025. Now that the date is past, anyone found at fault is subject to the corresponding fine and penalty. Since September 2, 2025, federal agents have conducted raids across the country and have confiscated hundreds of thousands of vape products from many retailers and distributors—the headline raid being the one done at a distributor’s warehouse outside Chicago, where the officials reported seizing over 600,000 “illegal” products valued at over $14m.

According to Attorney General Pan Bondi, “The Department of Justice today is conducting a nationwide operation to remove illicit vaping products that are being strategically distributed and sold at retailers across the country.” She continued to say that, “They’re targeting children, young adults, college students, and even members of our military.”

Now, it is important to note that vaping is not specifically banned in the US, and yes, there are still quite a number of vape products you can buy across the country. These officials are only fighting against vape products perceived to be more harmful to the users, and particularly pushing to reduce teen/younger adult vaping.

Which Vape Products are now Illegal?

Put simply, any vape product that’s not on the FDA whitelist is officially declared illegal in the United States, and this includes products from popular brands like Elf Bar, RAZ, Lost Mary, Geek Bar, and many others. Also, particularly, some states have a statewide ban on flavored vapes, further narrowing down the type of vapes that can be sold to people living within their jurisdictions. 

To put this in a clearer sentence, all vapes from Chinese manufacturers, made outside the US, are officially declared illegal. Importing these vapes is even a heck of an expense right now, thanks to the US-China trade war and high tariffs. So, even if you find these popular Chinese-made vapes in the US, they have become expensive than before. However, with this ongoing clampdown, retailers and distributors have no choice but to quickly clear their stock, even if it means slashing their prices drastically.

“The Trump administration will not let the American people suffer the consequences of dangerous chemicals being pushed into our communities by Chinese companies and manufacturers,” Bondi said.

So far, the FDA, in conjunction with the Department of Justice, has raided and seized over $86 million worth of illegal vapes across different states. According to the joint force, the devices they seized were all targeted at children or military personnel.

Are These “Chinese” Vapes Really Dangerous?

Let’s be honest here, vaping is not 100% healthy; it’s just a “safer” and “healthier” alternative to smoking. Yes, it (vaping) has its own health risks, and definitely, the act is not meant for everyone, because some people are very sensitive to nicotine and/or aerosols. So, vaping as an act isn’t 100% healthy, but it’s a lot better than consuming packs of cigars.

Now to the “Chinese” part. One would think that the big tobacco companies in the US are feeling challenged that Chinese-made and imported “safer” alternatives—vapes—to their products keep selling out fast and growing in popularity, hence, they need to “act.”

If “Chinese” vapes are dangerous, then even the vapes on the FDA-approved list are dangerous, too. Yes, that’s because both the “Chinese” vapes and the “FDA-approved” vapes are made with literally the same ingredients; they all got nicotine, additives, flavors, and are built to the same aesthetic feel.

From our vantage, the FDA’s stance is that they cannot ascertain the authenticity of the vapes made outside the US, particularly in China, so they’d rather approve the vapes made in their jurisdiction, where they can monitor and approve the ingredients and assign strict quantities of each ingredient in the vape formulas. But, is this really what they’re going to do?

Also, there are claims that these “Chinese” vapes are targeting kids and military personnel, hence the clampdown; if we’re being honest, banning Chinese vapes won’t stop teens and military people from buying “vapes” in general. So, if those were the problem, then it has nothing to do with the manufacturers or sellers, but the users.

However, we can’t dispute the fact that there are subtle approaches from these manufacturers and retailers to attract the said demographic, but that’s not exclusive to “Chinese” vapes either; even the approved vapes in the FDA list still carry those subtle marketing tactics. That said, what the FDA and the Justice Department is jointly fighting won’t solve the issue they’re tackling.

What’s in this for Vapers?

Well, while distributors and retailers in Illinois, North Carolina, New Jersey, Arizona, Georgia, and Florida are scouting for safety, vapers can benefit from this chaos in the moment. Yes, this is because retailers in these states are slashing their prices! If you visit any vape store in these states that’s still operating, you would get sweet deals on their Chinese vape stocks.

But, the best way to shop for your vapes now is online; find an ideal online vape store that ships to your county and buy from them. EightVape typically offers the best prices for Geek Bar, RAZ.....even before this whole brouhaha started. So, you can leverage the bundle deals to get yourself a sweet bulk purchase deal. 

Honestly, the whole fuse will eventually die down, but the vape market in America will get a big shift! Many retailers may close, and distributors will leave; vapers will have to accept “boring” and “not-so-tasteful” vapes against their wishes because those are the approved ones.

Well, your chance is to bulk buy your favorite vape now and store in your closet. These vapes can stay up to a year without expiration. So, you can get as many as possible—good thing, you will get a sweet deal for that right now. Love Geek Bars, Raz, Foger? Now is the only time you have to act, and you must act fast. 

Verdict

The FDA and Justice Department are conducting nationwide raids on vape stores and distributor outlets, forcing vape retailers and wholesalers to slash their prices and sell out their stock. If you’re a lover of vapes, now is your time to grab some very juicy deals and stock up on your favorite vapes.