A former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) official told the media that the Massachusetts flavor ban is a failure. He said a recent report unveiled by state authorities detailed a dramatic increase in seizures of vaping products following a recent statewide ban.
The report, issued by the Bay State’s Illegal Tobacco Task Force, found that vape seizures surged by over 200,000 units in 2024—primarily driven by large-scale operations—compared to 2023. However, seizures of smokeless tobacco and conventional cigarettes declined.
Former New York City Sheriff Edgar Domenech—who, as an ex-ATF official, specialized in tobacco and related contraband—told Fox News Digital that these findings indicate the illegal vape market is “exploding,” adding that when Massachusetts became the first state to ban flavored tobacco, it effectively signaled to cartels and smugglers, “[we’re] open for business.”
He asserted, “A 21,000 percent increase in smuggling proves once and for all that the Massachusetts flavor ban experiment has been an embarrassing catastrophe.”
Domenech, appointed by then-Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg and now affiliated with Georgetown University, continued, “They are spending so much time seizing so much product they literally can’t find a place to store the contraband.”
While acknowledging the importance of upholding the rule of law, he suggested that sometimes the laws themselves need to be reexamined.
He noted that without the capacity to impose taxes on an illegal product—one that remains widely available in nearby states like New Hampshire—customers are compelled to travel farther to purchase these goods. Domenech said, “Prohibiting adult products like vapes never works. It moves sales out of the stores and into the streets.”
