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Are You Using An Illegal Vape? · Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott

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  Speaker 1: Please to have with us. Rich Marianos. He's a former
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  Speaker 1: ATF assistant director. He's co founder of the Tobacco Law
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  Speaker 1: Enforcement Network. Rich, welcome to the show. How are you,
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  Speaker 1: sir Prestin.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me. Doing great and
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  Speaker 2: I appreciate your time.
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  Speaker 1: You know, earlier this week we had the Attorney General
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  Speaker 1: for the State of Florida, James Uthmeier, talking about medical
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  Speaker 1: devices primarily, but the broad topic of course is China
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  Speaker 1: and it's interventions into the American economic marketplace in unsanctioned ways.
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  Speaker 1: Is that sort of the point of your organization. Are
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  Speaker 1: you looking at what China's doing inside the vaping world?
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  Speaker 2: Well, that and several other things. China is the spearhead
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  Speaker 2: of our biggest problem here. Not only are the number
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  Speaker 2: one threat to national security, but they are producing the majority,
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  Speaker 2: almost ninety percent of the vay products that are getting
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  Speaker 2: into the hands of our kids. These are all band
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  Speaker 2: they're all illegal, they're all dangerous, and they're getting into
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  Speaker 2: the United States through illegal means and then being found
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  Speaker 2: in possession in our schools and throughout our communities, which
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  Speaker 2: is creating the biggest problem that we've seen. And I
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  Speaker 2: call the New Face of organized crime.
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  Speaker 1: How are you able to quantify what is out there
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  Speaker 1: and how it's getting there.
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  Speaker 2: Well, we have several people we work in conjunction with
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  Speaker 2: convenience store associations, different store owners, different people in industry,
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  Speaker 2: different law enforcement organizations, articles in the newspaper in terms
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  Speaker 2: of seizures and law enforcement events. So we're able to
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  Speaker 2: quantify this fairly accurately to depict what the crime you know,
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  Speaker 2: excuse me, the crime? The picture is.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, your phone's breaking up on us, a little bit rich,
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  Speaker 1: So let me ask ask this now, to do legal
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  Speaker 1: vape shops? Are they aware of these contraband products? They
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  Speaker 1: are they rooting them out of their own supply chains?
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  Speaker 1: How are they involved in trying to help solve the problem?
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  Speaker 2: Well, define legal is the first thing we need to do.
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  Speaker 2: And there is between thirty and forty different approved vapes,
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  Speaker 2: not so much approve that, I should say registered vapes
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  Speaker 2: allowed for tobacco harm reduction. Okay, everything else that's not
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  Speaker 2: on that list is a criminal contraband by federal law.
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  Speaker 2: So if you want to discuss a legal shop, it
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  Speaker 2: has to be someone that is following those directions and
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  Speaker 2: following federal law and the FDA has done a decent
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  Speaker 2: job of sending out letters to all these different locations
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  Speaker 2: advising them of the law. Some are thumbing their nose
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  Speaker 2: and they're involved in more than just selling vapes. If
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  Speaker 2: you go on our website to Tobacco Law Enforcement Network
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  Speaker 2: dot com, you'll see some analysis we did of all
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  Speaker 2: the other crimes are unintended crimes that are surrounding these
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  Speaker 2: vague shops. I call it almost a licensed crack corner
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  Speaker 2: because they're involved in trade based money laundering. They've spent
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  Speaker 2: over five hundred arrests surrounding these illegal shops. The hundreds
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  Speaker 2: of guns, tens of thousands of pounds of illegal narcotics,
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  Speaker 2: synthetic narcotics, hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal non
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  Speaker 2: tax payable money. So there's a bigger picture to play
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  Speaker 2: with some of these shops, and that's what we're trying
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  Speaker 2: to do is engage law enforcement. Each law enforcement work
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  Speaker 2: with law enforcement like they're doing in Florida, which by
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  Speaker 2: the way, is one of the best jobs in the country.
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  Speaker 2: But to go after these locations. You know, just recently,
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  Speaker 2: in the last two weeks, you've had two of the
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  Speaker 2: largest seizures in the state history because their law enforcement
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  Speaker 2: and the Attorney general supports it is to go after
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  Speaker 2: these jobs, to identify the problem ones, and to take
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  Speaker 2: them out of commerce so they cannot put these products
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  Speaker 2: on the street, they cannot longer money, they cannot self.
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  Speaker 2: It's synthetic narcos.
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  Speaker 1: Some subjects will just make you furious. Don't worry. We're
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  Speaker 1: here to make it all better. It's The Morning Show
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  Speaker 1: with Preston Scott Rich, Mariano's co founder Tobacco Law Enforcementnetwork
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  Speaker 1: dot com. You can go to the dot com website
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  Speaker 1: to learn more. Rich. We've talked on the program in
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  Speaker 1: recent weeks about legalized marijuana and how Chinese nationals immediately
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  Speaker 1: seize on the opportunities in states even if it's legalizing
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  Speaker 1: medical marijuana only, and start setting up criminal networks. They
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  Speaker 1: undercut the marketplace and begin operating these black market operations.
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  Speaker 1: I'm assuming we're talking about a similar type thing. Are
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  Speaker 1: these all connected? Are is the vaping industry and what
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  Speaker 1: the Chinese are doing? And I guess others is does
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  Speaker 1: it connect to a broader criminal network?
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  Speaker 2: Oh? Absolutely, And I'm glad you brought that up because
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  Speaker 2: some of these factories that are in Singing in China
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  Speaker 2: are connected to a huge organized crime network that to
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  Speaker 2: include manufacturing the precursors for fetanol. It's being sent out
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  Speaker 2: of China to some of these super labs around the
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  Speaker 2: world bringing it into the United States. They're connecting in
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  Speaker 2: ways that organized crime only dreamed of. Just in this
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  Speaker 2: criminal vape industry that they're involved in. They're reaming the
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  Speaker 2: amounts of money that we never even thought of. Three
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  Speaker 2: hundred billion dollars. It was our last estimate in terms
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  Speaker 2: of how much money they are taking from the United
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  Speaker 2: States and destroying our children and destroying our communities.
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  Speaker 1: Rich I've never been a smoker. I've never smoked a cigarette.
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  Speaker 1: I certainly am not into vaping or any of that
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  Speaker 1: stuff either, So I'm a little ignorant on some of this.
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  Speaker 1: What would you say to a parent out there right
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  Speaker 1: now or to a young person that has some kind
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  Speaker 1: of connection to vaping. What should people know about what
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  Speaker 1: we're talking about and what should they do.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not a smoker neither, I'm an advocate whatsoever. But
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  Speaker 2: what they need to know is what is regulated by
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  Speaker 2: the FDA, even if they're the parents that are vaping,
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  Speaker 2: because if it's not on the list and it's not
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  Speaker 2: been granted authorization to be sold in the United States.
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  Speaker 2: It's dangerous and it can cause extreme problems in terms
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  Speaker 2: of where they buy it from, who they're associated with.
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  Speaker 2: And some of these vape shops that I said are
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  Speaker 2: just dens of problems are my friends and the people
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  Speaker 2: in the organization. We've called them dens of deceit, which
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  Speaker 2: there's firearms, violence, robberies, narcotic sales, gang members. Everything that
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  Speaker 2: is evil right now in the United States is being
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  Speaker 2: associated around these criminal vape shops. And again I want
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  Speaker 2: to characterize them is criminal because if you're abiding by
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  Speaker 2: the rules and following FDA guidelines and selling the products
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  Speaker 2: that are authorized for tobacco harm reduction, you're not going
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  Speaker 2: to see a law enforcement officer coming to take a
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  Speaker 2: look at your license or what's in there. It is
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  Speaker 2: the other ones that we need to put a full
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  Speaker 2: court press on. Jail works in this case, and we
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  Speaker 2: need to put these people out of business, these criminal organizations,
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  Speaker 2: and send a message across about of China that you
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  Speaker 2: have nowhere to sell these Okay, it's not that easy. Okay,
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  Speaker 2: we are going to do something about it and disrupt
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  Speaker 2: the marketplace. We with the children and the parents. It's
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  Speaker 2: just demand reduction. It's constantly having that message with them
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  Speaker 2: and let them understand who's behind it.
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  Speaker 1: We have been putting warnings on packs of cigarette for
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  Speaker 1: years and people still smoke. We have a list that
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  Speaker 1: the FDA says, Okay, these are the products that are
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  Speaker 1: allowed to be sold in shops. Is there a tell
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  Speaker 1: Is there something that when someone walks into that vape
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  Speaker 1: shop they know that they're selling legal products? Because I
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  Speaker 1: just have this sneaky feeling people aren't going to go
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  Speaker 1: to that list and then do an inventory.
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  Speaker 2: You're absolutely right. But there's some that you can tell
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  Speaker 2: that are just you know, some watermelonized fruity two D
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  Speaker 2: Captain Crunch, those that have the Simpsons on there, or
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  Speaker 2: the minions that are just designated and designed through social
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  Speaker 2: media to kids with outlandish flavors. Okay, outlandish amounts of
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  Speaker 2: puffs an them like one I'm holding right here that
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  Speaker 2: has seven thousand puffs. If I'm taking in a cart
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  Speaker 2: and a cigarettes, it's just dangerous. And we don't even
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  Speaker 2: know ramifications because it's only been in the last five
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  Speaker 2: years that these Chinese products of ecktomers. But we have
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  Speaker 2: no idea the ramifications in the next five to ten
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  Speaker 2: years of what these young adults are going to consume.
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  Speaker 1: Is there a way to know that the shop that
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  Speaker 1: someone's shopping at, the vape shop is legal.
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  Speaker 2: The best advice I can give is go on the
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  Speaker 2: FDA site and do not buy the products that aren't
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  Speaker 2: listed there, and you're not going to have a problem,
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  Speaker 2: Or don't shop at a certain location in which they're
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  Speaker 2: selling unregulated devices.
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  Speaker 1: Gotcha.
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  Speaker 2: That's the best way, because you know, if you're following
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  Speaker 2: the law, these aren't going to be in your store.
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  Speaker 2: If you're following the law, they're not going to be
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  Speaker 2: hidden in secret rooms.
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  Speaker 1: Nice.
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  Speaker 2: If you're following the law, you're not going to have
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  Speaker 2: issues of dangerous clientele spending their time there pushing these
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  Speaker 2: things on children.
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  Speaker 1: Good stuff, Rich, Thanks for what you're doing. I appreciate
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  Speaker 1: your time this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you so much. Pressing let's stand out, okay, buddy.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you. Rich Marianos, formerly with the ATF, now with
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  Speaker 1: the Tobacco Law Enforcement Network and the dangers of vapes
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  Speaker 1: coming from sketchy places. What a shock China. Forty eight
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  Speaker 1: minutes passed