Act Now to Stop Virginia Vape Ban

As a vape wholesaler or reseller, your ability to sell the products that adult vapers prefer is in danger. 

SB 550, known to advocates as a “PMTA Registry” law, is moving through hearings in the senate. 

A substitute bill, that still contains a PMTA Registry provision, was adopted and reported out of the S. Commerce and Labor committee. SB 550 is now heading to the Senate committee on Finance and Appropriations. 

If enacted, this law would effectively ban all vaping products that have not been granted marketing orders through FDA’s “arbitrary and capricious” authorization process and make the state of Virginia an enforcement arm of the Food and Drug Administration empowering state authorities to enforce the disastrous federal anti-vaping regulations.

This would put hundreds of independent vape shops out of business, hundreds of workers out of jobs, and thousands of Virginians at risk of returning to smoking, or delaying attempts at quitting.

Please take a minute to send an email to your lawmakers urging them to oppose SB 550! Click on the banner image above or here to make your voice heard. 

Big Tobacco's PMTA Registry Scheme

Big Tobacco’s PMTA Registry scheme is a nationwide press to convince state legislatures to bar all vape products released after 2016 from the market. The laws are carefully worded so that products such as the Vuse Alto, NJoy, and MyBlu are not impacted but popular disposable vapes are criminalized.

As a business owner, you have skin in the game and must make your voice heard. Big Tobacco’s vape products are lower margin products that simply are not as popular. If they could compete on a level field of play, they would not have to criminalize the competition.

Please click on this CASAA Call-to-Action or use their Legislator Lookup to find who represents you and let them know that you vape, you vote, and that this scheme will destroy jobs and lives. CASAA has dubbed this bill the “Joe Camel Protection Act.”

Virginia in Big Tobacco’s Crosshairs

The Virginia PMTA Registry Bill will ban virtually every top selling vape product from the market, leaving only tobacco industry manufactured pod kits and a smattering of refillable e-liquid brands left standing. Virginia makes an obvious target, located not far from the tobacco industry's heartland. 

Make no mistake, the Joe Camel Protection Act is a de facto vape ban and force the state to enforce the FDA’s failed PMTA system.

Naturally, if passed the tobacco industry will thrive with their shelf space uncontested by more affordable, and popular disposable vapes. Products that cost far less for the consumer to use and have a better margin for the retailer.

While vaping has been under siege for many years, this bill will criminalize vape sales. Few vape shops can survive selling eight-year-old pod kits, mods, and a couple lines of e-liquid.

The tobacco-industry lobbyists carefully worded their PMTA Registry scheme by barring products from after 2016. Keep in mind the FDA has not approved the most popular tobacco industry vape pod products either.  

Consumer Choice and Pocket Book Suffer Under PMTA Registration Laws

A legally enforced monopoly will provide the tobacco industry with the freedom to raise prices further and the profit margin for resellers.  

Under the Virginia PMTA Registry Bill, all vape products released after 2016 will be barred. This means every popular disposable will be gone, leaving Vuse, Juul and MyBlu with a virtual monopoly. A recent FDA study showed that flavor bans increase cigarette sales. Vape shop owners have seen firsthand how many customers have benefitted from alternative vaping products. A law funneling these customers back onto cigarettes should be criminal, not providing adults with access to vapes in the flavors they prefer. 

PMTA Registry Bills Nationwide

The tobacco industry has been unwilling or unable to compete with the independent vape industry in terms of price and innovation. Youth vaping rates have fallen every year since 2019, and the odds of a national flavor ban that would only benefit the tobacco industry seem more remote than ever.

The PMTA Registry Bills are a heavy-handed gambit to claim a monopoly on the market. A monopoly hurts the consumer and hurts the reseller. The ban on flavored pods that passed in response to 2018 “Teen Vaping Epidemic”, prevents Big Tobacco companies from offering the flavors that adults prefer in their expensive pod platforms.

PMTA Registry Laws tilt the playing field decisively in their favor. But it is not a long-term solution, as the FDA has only issued approval to a pair of defunct. A vape industry composed entirely of tobacco companies will be that much easier to ban in its totality.

With the FDA's shaky PMTA application process as the guideline, the Virginia PMTA Registry converts state governments into an enforcement arm for clueless federal regulators.

Many adult vapers, and smokers will pay the ultimate price for this political maneuvering. Thousands of jobs will be destroyed in the process. Do not let your voice go unheard.

Consumer freedom, entrepreneurship, customer choice and your pocketbook will take a huge hit if the Virginia Vape Sales Ban is to pass.