The US Food and Drug Administration and Justice Department announced Monday that they are creating a task force to target the issue. The task force will include people from the US Marshals Service, US Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Trade Commission and other agencies to identify and target illegal sales and distribution of e-cigarettes.

&ldquoUnauthorized e-cigarettes and vaping products continue to jeopardize the health of Americans &ndash particularly children and adolescents &ndash across the country,&rdquo Benjamin Mizer, the acting associate attorney general with the Justice Department.

&ldquoThis interagency Task Force is dedicated to protecting Americans by combatting the unlawful sale and distribution of these products,&rdquo Mizer said. &ldquoAnd the establishment of this Task Force makes clear that vigorous enforcement of the tobacco laws is a government-wide priority.

Teen vaping is a "serious" public health issue.(pxhere)

Under current regulations, new tobacco products must receive marketing authorization from the FDA before they can be sold pre-existing e-cigarette products have been allowed to remain on the market, but the agency has asked manufacturers to submit applications to keep them there.

The new federal task force will hone in on several issues, &ldquoincluding investigating and prosecuting new criminal, civil, seizure and forfeiture actions,&rdquo according to the news release, and violations &ldquocan result in felony convictions and significant criminal fines and civil monetary penalties,&rdquo as well as the seizures of unauthorized products.

Approximately 2.1 million teenagers are currently using e-cigarettes. (pxhere)

&ldquoThe U.S. Marshals Service Asset Forfeiture Division stands ready to work with our Task Force partners in the seizure of unauthorized e-cigarettes from domestic distributors seeking to sell them unlawfully,&rdquo Ronald Davis, director of the US Marshals Service, said in Monday&rsquos news release.

Meanwhile, the American Lung Association has announced that it applauds the launch of the new federal task force.