Opinion

Law enforcement should target illegal vaping products

By STEVE CARTER, Published: October 24, 2026

Psychologically, when a consumer sees a product on a store shelf, they assume it is safe. The recent deaths of two students at the University of Mississippi are a stark reminder that this is not the case.

Some products sold in gas stations, smoke shops, and convenience stores fall into a dangerous gray area, which can be deadly. North Carolina is not immune, despite the General Assembly's efforts.

Kinston police in early March executed search warrants at more than two dozen local businesses and eight homes. This was the result of Operation Wintergreen, the three-month investigation that led to the seizure of $2.3 million in cash, over 100 pounds of THC, and nearly eight pounds of Khat, a stimulant that was highlighted in the movie Black Hawk Down. Four individuals were arrested. Police Chief Keith Goyette said officers acted on repeated complaints from parents whose children, ages 15 to 17, were going to these shops to buy illegal products. 

While North Carolina already has a robust framework for addressing illegal vaping products, state officials and district attorneys must now make enforcement a priority.

House Bill 900 is a clear example. The law requires vape manufacturers to certify that their products have FDA authorization or a qualified authorization application. Those that pass can be included in the state’s directory of products authorized for sale. Products not listed in the directory cannot legally be sold in North Carolina.

Many of the illegal vaping products entering the U.S. market originate in China. These products have never been through federal safety review, and some contain dangerous ingredients. A 2025 study of popular illegal disposables from the University of California, Davis, found that most devices exceeded cancer-risk thresholds because of lead, nickel and antimony. Without consistent enforcement of the directory requirement, these untested products will keep reaching store shelves and minors.

In its first year, North Carolina's law was poorly enforced. Last December, the Department of Revenue reported only eight inspections of Raleigh vape retailers. Every inspection identified violations and discovered nearly 25,000 unauthorized products, yet the state collected zero dollars in penalties. 

This year, lawmakers strengthened law enforcement's ability to act. The new state budget funds 24 additional State Bureau of Investigation positions to address crimes, including vapor product violations.

Numerous state and local agencies, including Alcohol Law Enforcement, the State Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Justice, and local police departments and sheriff's offices, can conduct compliance checks. 

State law requires every retailer, distributor, and wholesaler selling vapor products to undergo at least one unannounced check each year, with a mandatory follow-up check within 30 days if any violation is found.

Since Oct. 1, a first violation carries a fine of $500 to $750 and a 30-day license suspension. Repeat offenders face larger fines and possible license loss, and agencies may seize and destroy noncompliant products. District attorneys need to do their part, too. When retailers keep selling illegal products despite fines and suspensions, prosecutors should step in.

My years directing investigations taught me that compliance checks work best when they are frequent, unannounced, and backed by meaningful consequences. Enforcement should also extend beyond local stores to distributors and wholesalers that supply illicit and unlisted products. As Kinston demonstrated, local officers’ knowledge of their communities—and their willingness to act on parents’ complaints—can help identify violations and guide broader investigations.

The stakes are real. More than one in five North Carolina high school students reported current use of vape products in 2023. Lawmakers deserve credit for recognizing that problem and passing the directory to address it. However, the directory can only do that job if it is enforced.

North Carolina lawmakers have wisely created a clear framework to solve this problem and strengthened the tools to enforce it. Agencies on the ground must now put those tools to work and make consistent, collaborative enforcement the standard across the state, not the exception, so family-owned stores that follow the rules don't lose business to shops that ignore them.

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Steve Carter is a former operations major with the Henderson County Sheriff's Office, where he also served as Criminal Investigations Bureau commander and Drug Enforcement Unit commander.