99% of vapes collected from urban trash in DC and NYC, despite city bans on flavored tobacco, were flavored and mostly from China, indicating limited effectiveness of bans.

99% of vapes collected from urban trash cans in Washington D.C. and New York City, despite city bans on flavored tobacco products, were found to be flavored, with 99.5% coming from China. Researchers from the WSPM Group suggest that bans on flavored tobacco products have not effectively reduced smoking rates or controlled personal choices and have inadvertently created unregulated, potentially dangerous black markets.