With the constantly changing landscape of legislation regarding vape juice sales in the United States, vape juice shops all over the country have been bracing for the uncertainty to come. To date, the federal government’s stance on vaping is the following. The government will forbid the sale of most flavored e-cigarette cartridges but would exempt menthol and tobacco flavors, as well as flavored liquid nicotine sold in open tank systems at vape shops. The moratorium for vape shops was one month and officials could start taking action against companies that were still producing and or selling e-cigarette cartridges in an effort to decrease the growth rate of teenage vaping.
These laws are being put in place because of the public outcry that the country’s youth is getting hooked on nicotine at a young age. The focus is to get the very products off the streets so that the youth cannot get hooked. When you look at the other side of the coin however, vaping has been one of the key tools that have helped adults slow down and then get off of cigarettes. With the varying degrees of nicotine in vape juice, adults can start off with a higher concentration on nicotine and then gradually step down in nicotine usage overtime and ultimately stop vaping nicotine altogether. The impact of online sales of vape juice from companies such as vapor DNA and smokingthings has yet to be determined.
It seems as though the small vape shops are taking the brunt of the legislation as they scramble to find new products to sell or inevitably shut down. What makes things even worse for the vape shops is some state governments are taking things a bit further in the fight against vaping. In New Jersey, for example, they have outlawed all nicotine vaping liquids other than those flavored to taste like tobacco. All the fruit and menthol-flavored juices and cartridges are no longer able to be sold in vape shops. In Kentucky, they have implemented a different method of curbing the use of vape by using taxation. If the bill passes, they will be raising the current tax on vape products by 10%. This will tack on an additional tax to all vape products making it harder for small vape shops to make a profit. The increase in the price of the vape juice will also force the vape store owner to raise the price of the juice, making it harder for younger people to purchase the juice as well.
As vape shops embrace this new landscape, some will be forced to shut down while others will be moving into other lines of products to sell. CBDs are one avenue as well as the pipes and paraphernalia that help produce the vapor. It is a trying time currently as small business owners work to figure out their livelihood in an everchanging political climate. Most will inevitably shut down, but those that can pivot will have a chance to weather the storm.
