Tag: regulation

  •  San Fran Seeks End to Online Flavored Pouch Sales

     San Fran Seeks End to Online Flavored Pouch Sales

    VV Archive

    San Francisco is cracking down on the online sale of flavored nicotine pouches. The new lawsuit targets a handful of online retailers that the city says are violating its prohibition on flavored tobacco products.

    Unflavored versions of the product, which are sold at corner stores and tobacco shops in the city, will remain available for online purchase.

    “The tobacco industry has gone to tremendous lengths to reinvent their products to addict young people,” said City Attorney David Chiu. “We aren’t going to allow these companies to disregard the law and unravel decades of progress on preventing youth from using tobacco.”

    The Standard obtained a draft of the complaint, which was filed Tuesday in San Francisco County Superior Court. The suit alleges that Northerner Scandinavia, Lucy Goods, Rogue Holdings, and Swisher International sell flavored nicotine pouch products online to San Franciscans despite the ban.

    “Tobacco companies market nicotine pouches as discreet — the ‘perfect way to enjoy the nicotine you love without getting noticed, and without the risk of staining your teeth’; and claim that they are smoking cessation devices that help users ‘focus better, think deeper, chill out smoother, and inspire creativity,’” the complaint states.

  • Durbin Blames Police for Illegal Flavored Vape Surge

    Durbin Blames Police for Illegal Flavored Vape Surge

    VV Archives

    Illinois Senator Dick Durbin strongly condemned top health and law enforcement officials for their inadequate efforts in combating the surge of illegal disposable e-cigarettes among young people in the U.S.

    Industry analysts estimate disposable vapes make up 30 percent to 40 percent of the roughly $7 billion vaping market. The two best-selling disposables—Breeze and Elf Bar—generated more than $500 million in sales last year, according to Nielsen retail sales data analyzed by Goldman Sachs, according to media reports.

    Both brands have been sanctioned by FDA regulators but remain widely available, in some cases with new names, logos, and flavors. More than half of the 2.8 million U.S. teens who vaped last year said they used Elf Bar.

    Overall, teen vaping has fallen 60 percent since its all-time high in 2019, following the COVID-19 pandemic and new age restrictions and flavor bans on e-cigarettes and other tobacco products.

    “Nearly all e-cigarettes are sold in violation of federal law, yet 2 million kids report vaping,” Durbin tweeted.

    Using its own authorities, the FDA has sent hundreds of warning letters to vape shops and e-cigarette manufacturers in recent years. But the letters have done little to dissuade companies from flouting FDA rules and introducing new vapes.

  • South Africa Tobacco Control Bill Not Up in Smoke

    South Africa Tobacco Control Bill Not Up in Smoke

    Credit: Pavlo Fox

    A leftover bill from the previous administration seeking to tighten tobacco and vaping product regulations is back before South Africa’s Parliament’s health committee.

    However, the business community believes it needs to be properly consulted on its potential impact, media outlets have reported.

    Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi is set to reintroduce the Tobacco Control & Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill to the portfolio committee on health on Wednesday.

    The government is pressing on in its efforts to align South Africa’s smoking restrictions with World Health Organisation (WHO) standards.

    Vaping advocates previously said the bill would destroy the vapor industry if it became law.

    The Vapour Products Association of South Africa (VPASA) warned that, among other provisions, the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill opens an avenue for the government to ban the sale of flavored e-liquids, which tobacco harm advocates insist are key to entice smokers away from cigarettes.

  • New Jersey Fines 19 Retailers for Illegal Vape Sales

    New Jersey Fines 19 Retailers for Illegal Vape Sales

    Credit: VetKit

    Sellers were allegedly violating the state’s consumer protection laws and were fined $4,500 each.

    New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin and the state’s division of consumer affairs told media that 19 New Jersey retailers were issued notices of violation and assessed civil penalties of $4,500 each. The retailers were allegedly violating the state’s consumer protection laws by offering and selling flavored vapor products that are banned for sale in New Jersey, according to the attorney general’s office.

    The enforcement actions are the result of an investigation launched in June 2024 into the unlawful offer and sale of flavored vaping products, which research has shown to be appealing to teens and children, the attorney general’s office said.

    Through undercover buys and in-store inspections, investigators identified smoke shops, convenience stores, and gift and novelty retailers in five counties offering and selling the banned products. The attorney general said that “many” of these retailers were close to schools and parks or on or near shore town boardwalks.

    “As students across the state head back to school, we’re sending a message of deterrence to retailers. If you are caught selling these dangerous, banned products, you will be held accountable,” Platkin said.

    In 2020, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation prohibiting the sale and distribution of all vapor products with a flavor, taste, or aroma other than tobacco.

    “The ban on flavor vaping devices is in place to protect New Jersey consumers—especially our youth—from the harmful effects of electronic cigarettes, nicotine, and tobacco,” said Cari Fais, acting director of the division of consumer affairs. “By identifying and taking enforcement action against merchants who illegally sell these products, we are protecting public health and fulfilling our responsibility to safeguard consumers from unlawful business practices.”

  • Keller and Heckman Announces Vapor Symposium

    Keller and Heckman Announces Vapor Symposium

    Keller and Heckman will hold its nineth Annual E-Vapor and Tobacco Law Symposium Jan. 27-28, 2025, in Las Vegas, right before the Total Product Expo. This two-day seminar is designed to provide in-depth knowledge on legal, regulatory and scientific issues that are essential for tobacco, nicotine and CBD/hemp product manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and retailers.

    Registration for this seminar, which will be held at the Hilton-Conrad Resorts World Las Vegas, will launch in September 2024.

  • DEA Sets Hearing on Cannabis Rescheduling

    DEA Sets Hearing on Cannabis Rescheduling

    VV Archives

    The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has scheduled a Dec. 2 public meeting on a proposal to lower cannabis to a less dangerous Schedule III classification under U.S. law.

    The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has scheduled a Dec. 2 hearing on its proposal to lower the classification of marijuana to the less dangerous level of Schedule III, according to a public announcement late Monday.

    The DEA had never issued any timeline for its process to potentially change the Schedule I classification of cannabis for the first time since the Controlled Substances Act went into effect in 1970. Still, some in the cannabis industry had hoped for a final decision before the U.S. election.

    The DEA had already received 43,000 comments on its proposal, initially made on May 21, with a comment period that closed late in July. The DEA said the comments included requests to hold a public hearing.

    DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said she would determine who will participate in the hearing and name a presiding officer to run the meeting, which will take place on Dec. 2 at 9 a.m. Eastern Time at 700 Navy Drive, Arlington, Virginia.

    The government said the meeting may also be moved to a different location, continued from day to day, or recessed to a later date without notice.

  • Canada Flavored Pouch Ban Begins Wednesday

    Canada Flavored Pouch Ban Begins Wednesday

    Canada’s federal government will impose new restrictions beginning Aug. 28 on nicotine pouches, making it illegal to sell them anywhere but from behind a pharmacy counter.

    The pouches, which carry the brand name Zonnic, will be completely banned from convenience store and gas station shelves. Berry Frost and Tropic Breeze flavors will be recalled, and only menthol—and mint-flavored pouches will be allowed in pharmacies.

    “All the stuff that’s clearly designed to target youth — it’s over,” Health Minister Mark Holland told CBC News.

    Ottawa has been promising to crack down on sales of nicotine pouches for nearly 10 months. National health groups have warned about the risk of teenagers using them and becoming addicted to nicotine.

    “It has been so deeply disturbing to see so many young people becoming addicted to these nicotine pouches who’ve never had any interaction with cigarettes,” Holland said.

    Holland has accused Imperial Tobacco, the cigarette manufacturer that makes the pouches, of using a loophole in Canadian law to get approval from Health Canada.

    The federal government says it will give Imperial Tobacco six months to change its packaging and advertising. The new containers must include an addiction warning on the front label and any advertising that could appeal to youth must be changed by the end of February.

    Holland said the new measures may come too late for some.

    “I’m very concerned that there are kids who are already addicted. I am very concerned that tobacco companies have already achieved their goal,” he said. “It repulses me.”

    Eric Gagnon, vice president of corporate and regulatory affairs at Imperial Tobacco Canada, believes Holland has a “personal vendetta” against the company, which went through a two-year approval process to legally sell nicotine pouches.

    “Apparently, because we’re a tobacco company, we’re treated differently than anybody else,” he told CBC News. “The biggest losers right now are the adult smokers that have been using Zonnic.”

  • Japan Tobacco to Process Leaf for HTP in Trier

    Japan Tobacco to Process Leaf for HTP in Trier

    The products prepared in Trier will be finalized at a JTI factory in Poland (pictured) Photo: JTI

    Japan Tobacco International is investing €30 million in its Trier, Germany, factory, reports Tagesschau.

    The company plans to build a new facility to process leaf tobacco for heated-tobacco sticks. According to the company, these products will be prepared in Trier and then completed at a JTI plant in Poland.

    JTI-Trier Plant Manager Peter Kilburg views the investment as a sign of trust in the factory and its workforce.

    According to the company, Trier is the only JTI plant worldwide to establish such a facility. It is expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2026.

    The Trier factory employs about 1,800 people.

  • Golden, Colorado has First-Ever Fund for Shop Owners

    Golden, Colorado has First-Ever Fund for Shop Owners

    Welcome to Golden sign along Washington street in Golden, Colorado (Credit: PaBrady63)

    Lawmakers in Golden, Colorado, dropped the hammer on more than two dozen retail outlets last year when they banned the sales of all flavored tobacco and nicotine products in the city.

    The move is costing the businesses thousands of dollars in revenue.

    Now, this city on the western edge of the Denver metro area is setting up a one-time $100,000 relief fund for smoke and vape shops, gas stations, and convenience stores to soften the financial hit they’ve taken since Golden’s prohibition went into effect on Jan. 1, according to media reports.

    The City Council earlier this month directed staff to create a competitive grant program for businesses to apply for funds. No single store can receive more than $10,000, and the money must be allocated before the end of the year.

    About 30 businesses in Golden are affected by the city’s prohibition.

    “The City Council is trying to say they’ve heard the concerns of local businesses and they want to be responsive to local businesses that were impacted by an ordinance they weren’t anticipating,” said Rick Muriby, Golden’s community development director.

    While several Colorado municipalities, including Boulder, Aspen, Glenwood Springs, and Edgewater, have passed similar flavored tobacco sales bans in recent years to combat youth nicotine product consumption, Golden appears to be the first willing to backfill revenues lost to a law it passed.

    Muriby said the $100,000 figure wasn’t based on sales data from city businesses but was a figure the council and city manager “felt was a reasonable amount for the city to spend.” While Golden wants to ensure its businesses remain healthy, he said, it has no intention of taking a second look at its flavored nicotine ban.

    In March, for the second time in the last three sessions, a bill to regulate flavored nicotine products has died in Colorado’s General Assembly.

  • Thailand: Police Seize $300,000 in Illegal Vapes

    Thailand: Police Seize $300,000 in Illegal Vapes

    Credit: Natanaelginting.

    Police conducted a raid on a warehouse owned by a major online e-cigarette dealer in northern Thailand, YAI VAPE, confiscating 30,000 items valued at 10 million baht ($291,000).

    The police discovered e-cigarettes disguised as toys to evade detection. The Ministry of Public Health is advocating for legislative changes to close legal loopholes, according to media reports.

    Pol. Lt. Gen. Nirundorn disclosed that the inquiry commenced with the discovery of the website yaivapeth.com, which promoted e-cigarettes and related items and offered nationwide delivery services.

    Earlier this week, child health and rights experts in the country began calling for more awareness of the dangers of vaping around children, claiming exposure to secondhand vapor from vaping at home could be seen as a violation of Thailand’s child protection laws.