Inside the illegal vape boom

Npr, Here is a riddle for you. Can you think of a product that's illegal but so widely available that you could probably get it at any local gas station or corner store? I'll give you a second. If you said marijuana, first of all, what kind of gas stations do you have in your neighborhood? And second, the answer we are looking for is vapes, also known as e cigarettes or E vaporizers. Each year, somewhere between 14 and 25 billion dollars worth of these pocket sized nicotine delivery devices are sold in the U.S. and yet, according to the Altria Group, which has become one of the big players in this space, more than 60% of vapes sold last year were illegal under federal law. This is the indicator from Planet Money. I'm Adrian Ma. So how is this illegal market thriving right now right under the nose of regulators and what's being done about it? Today on the show, journalist Nick Florico joins us to explain. Nick writes for the Atlantic, where he reports on the ways business and policy affect public health. And after the break, he'll help us clear some of the haze around the business of vapes.