A leadership team from Bidi Vapor recently produced a webcast titled, “Vape Update: Getting Noncompliant Devices Off the Market,” which detailed the issue of illicit vaping products in major U.S. markets. The webcast dove into the enforcement activities that are ramping up throughout the industry, and also touched on potential solutions, such as tracking scan data to identify unlawful companies.

“It’s a major public health concern when these illicit, noncompliant and non-regulated products are overtaking the legal products,” said Niraj Patel, CEO of Bidi Vapor. “These illegal products used to be in just mom-and-pop stores, but now, these products are breaking into the franchise market, and showing up in the Nielsen numbers.”

While Patel noted that he regretted the situation, he also saw it as a call to action for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“But this list also puts pressure on the FDA and all other law enforcement agencies to do their jobs,” he said.

The new numbers from Nielsen, a New York-based data-collection firm, also point to a solution, according to Russell Quick, president of Bidi Vapor’s marketing firm, Kaival Marketing Services.

“Law enforcement can now track the supply chain,” Quick said in the webcast. “We can identify the distributors and retailers that are selling these non-compliant, illegal, illicit products. So both federal and state level authorities can issue warnings, fines, civil penalties or even harsher monetary penalties to these companies that are participating in and distributing these illegal products.”

To accompany the webcast, Bidi Vapor has produced two related infographics on illicit vape products and the illicit market. To download, click here: “How to Spot Illicit Vape” and “Rise of Illicit Vape.”

The full webcast can be found here.