Tag: regulation

World Vape Show: Dubai 2022

Disposables took center stage during the second annual vapor trade show in the Middle East.
VV Staff Report
It was a big show. Held June 16–18, 2022, at the Dubai World Trade Centre, the World Vape Show (WVS) Dubai 2022 brought together more than 250 exhibitors representing some of the leading suppliers and manufacturers in the vaping industry, showcasing thousands of global brands in the fast-growing Middle East market. Combined, exhibitors and visitors represented approximately 66 countries, according to WVS staff.
Numerous exhibitors said that sales exceeded expectations. Dimitrius Agrafiotis, executive director of the Tennessee Smoke Free Association and the owner of several vape shops in Greece, was at the show representing Innokin, a China-based hardware manufacturer. He told Vapor Voice that the Innokin show stand seemed to stay full of prospective buyers and that new products, like the company’s disposable Lola, a water-based vaping product (see “Trouble the Water,” page 24), were selling very well. The company’s Klypse system also won an award for the best new pod system.
“We haven’t had much time to stand around,” he said. “The Aquios system vapes are doing well and our new Klypse system is really turning heads. [The show] is definitely a lot bigger than last year in both terms of exhibitors and visitors.”
Phil Bruno, international sales manager for California-based Streamline Group, the manufacturer of the Juice Head brand, agreed that the show was a major success. “We are so thrilled to have exhibited at the World Vape Show in Dubai. The experience was outstanding, and we were able to connect with many potential customers,” said Bruno in an email. “It was an absolute pleasure meeting everyone and representing Juice Head in Dubai. We look forward to future events in the Middle East and other countries as well.”
By far the most popular products being hawked by vendors at WVS Dubai were disposables. During a seminar session on the impact of disposable products, Omar Fdawi, owner of Xtra Disposable Vape, said that disposals are great for a customer who’s looking to quit smoking because the transition from smoking is comparatively easy. However, he also noted that the long-term effects of disposables and their environmental impact should be considered.
“As a gateway, in order to quit smoking, it’s a fantastic method,” he said. Disposables have a shallower learning curve than larger, more complex devices. In an ideal situation, however, consumers would then quickly move on to nondisposable devices, such as closed pod systems, with a lower environmental footprint, according to Fdawi.
Todd Jiang, sales director for international business at Zinwi Biotech, a China-based e-liquid manufacturer, said the WVS Dubai brought a variety of visitors, and many were searching only for disposable products. He expects regulators to put into place rules for disposable products soon.
“For instance, the U.K.; I guess the regulators already put this through and they want to establish some new rules or standard regulations for disposable products,” he explained. “It will happen in maybe one or two years, even quicker. But [in Dubai], I think it depends on how this market will grow and how the regulators will step into this industry. The environmental impact of disposables is a serious concern.”
Coco Li, founder of Elf Bar, one of the largest disposable product manufacturers, said that her company, too, is really concerned about the environmental issues surrounding disposables. “We’re going to have a recycle plan in the U.K. maybe from the beginning of July,” she said. “We are going to have this marketing campaign in the U.K. and also in Russia, Malaysia [and other countries] where we will have recycling bins. There is another way too. We can find results from technical ways. Our research team and the technical team are doing a lot of research into finding different ways to solve this problem.”
In addition to worrying about the environmental impact of disposable products, many show attendees said they were concerned about the growing youth use of disposable products. Atif Amin, marketing manager for the My Vapery chain of vape shops, said his company has been training and educating its staff on the strict rules designed to prevent underage vaping.
“If you suspect that the individual that’s coming to purchase is underage, ensure that you check the required identification,” he said. “Beyond that, as a retailer, it’s pretty much as much [as] we can do. If someone else is purchasing the product on behalf of a minor … that’s out of our hands. We do our due diligence and do our best and train our staff to ensure that they’re following all the regulations. And if they’re seen not to be following the regulations, we obviously have to monitor that and deal with that situation accordingly.”
In the end, most manufacturers at WVS Dubai said it all comes down to the design of the product itself. John Dunne, director general of the U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) who moderated the disposables seminar, said that using technology like biometrics could help curb youth use, and technology could also help find a solution to the environmental impact of disposables.
Dunne stressed the importance of involving all manufacturers in the discussion on how to dispose of products. The UKVIA, he said, had been talking to Elf Bar and other manufacturers about the possibility of dismantling products at the end of their lifecycle and shipping them back to China for reuse in new vaping products.
“We need to be looking at all of these different options and how we can, as an industry, work together to do it,” said Dunne. “Because it can’t be done by a single retailer. It can’t be done by a single brand on their own. Because even if you have a national recycling program, who’s going to pay for that? Is it the government? Probably not. If it’s the manufacturers? Well, how do you proportion that? Some manufacturers are very big. Some manufacturers are very small. These are all of the challenges that we’ve faced in the U.K. when we’ve looked at the problem. And I’m sure the UAE is no different. But I think what’s important is [that] we have to start talking about it. Because if we don’t, the regulators certainly will.”
The next WVS event will be held in the U.K. at the ExCeL exhibition center in London from Dec. 1–2, 2022.
This article first appeared in Vapor Voice 3, 2022.

July 17, 2022
Juul Labs Exploring Options, Including Financing

Credit: Piter2121
Juul Labs on Friday said it is in the early stages of exploring several options including financing alternatives, as the company deals with lawsuits and a potential ban on sales of its e-cigarettes by U.S. health regulators.
Bloomberg News earlier reported, citing sources, that Juul’s bankers at Centerview Partners are sounding out investors for a possible $400 million first-lien term loan due August 2023.
The proceeds would help refinance an existing term loan, which has around $394 million outstanding and matures on the same date, the report added.
A spokesperson for Juul told Reuters that the company is looking at options to protect its business and to address the “impact of the FDA’s now stayed order so we can continue offering our products to adult consumers who have or are looking to transition away from traditional cigarettes.”
Bloomberg News in its report said Juul was also considering a new $150 million second-lien term loan, which may have an August 2024 maturity, to help pay down some of the first-lien term loan and to increase liquidity, the report said.
Financing proposals for either loan are due July 21, according to the report.
Last month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) blocked sales of Juul e-cigarettes and said the applications “lacked sufficient evidence” to show that sale of the products would be appropriate for public health.
However, Juul appealed the agency’s order and earlier this month FDA put on hold its ban saying it would do an additional review of the company’s marketing application.
July 16, 2022
Cambodia Police Campaign Against E-Cigarette Use

Credit: Luzitanija
Authorities in Cambodia are stepping up their campaign against vaping throughout the country with students and youths as the main targets.
Cambodian law bans the sale, consumption and import of e-cigarettes. However, there is no information that could be found on any consequences for using or selling vaping products.
According to Khmer Times, no legal action can be taken against users or sellers but authorities hope to reverse the trend of vaping, if not stop it, by creating awareness of the ill effects of smoking an e-cigarette and educating users about “the folly of their ways.”
General Meas Vyrith, secretary-general of the National Authority for Combating Drugs (NACD) said, “most e-cigarettes contain nicotine. Nicotine is highly addictive and can harm adolescent brain development, which continues into the early to mid-20s. E-cigarettes contain harmful substances besides nicotine.”
Cambodian authorities cannot arrest anyone for e-cigarette use. Police can only advise underage users.
“We can however take action against people who sell e-cigarette devices on the sly. We are also studying ways we can use existing laws and regulations to stop this threat to public health,” he said yesterday.
July 15, 2022
First Warning Letters for Synthetic Nicotine Products

Photo: 103tnn
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on July 13 sent its first warning letters to manufacturers for unlawfully marketing non-tobacco nicotine e-liquid products without the required authorization.
In March, President Joe Biden signed into law a spending bill [the Act] that gives the FDA authority over synthetic nicotine. The provision took effect in April and gave manufacturers until May 14, 2022, to submit premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) to the FDA.
Products that did not receive marketing authorization by July 13, 2022, are considered illegal and must be removed from the market.
Since no authorizations have been granted as of today, many industry experts question whether the FDA will use its enforcement discretion to continue reviewing PMTAs.
In a recent op-ed, Tony Abboud, president for Strategic Government Solutions, and executive director of the Vapor Technology Association (VTA), stated that the FDA should use its enforcement discretion for synthetic products that have submitted PMTAs.
“In a series of direct engagements with FDA since the passage, the VTA has provided a complete set of scientific and policy justifications for synthetic nicotine products, and specific recommendations on how FDA should use its enforcement discretion – just as it has in the past – to allow synthetic nicotine products to remain on the market during the PMTA review process,” explained Abboud.
The recipients of the FDA’s first warnings letters, AZ Swagg Sauce and Electric Smoke Vapor House, have listed a combined total of approximately 10,000 products with FDA. Neither company submitted a premarket application for its non-tobacco nicotine products by the deadline, according to the FDA.
In addition, the FDA issued 107 warning letters to retailers in the last two weeks for illegally selling non-tobacco nicotine products, including certain e-cigarette or e-liquid products, to underage purchasers.
“FDA has been fully committed to actively implementing this critical new law regulating non-tobacco nicotine products since its passage, and the warning letters announced today are just the beginning of our compliance and enforcement actions” said Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, in a statement. “In the coming weeks, we will continue to investigate companies that may be marketing, selling, or distributing non-tobacco nicotine products illegally and will pursue action, as appropriate.”
The FDA says it is currently processing applications for approximately 1 million non-tobacco nicotine products submitted by more than 200 manufacturers by the May 14, 2022, deadline.
“FDA is working diligently to process the substantial number of applications submitted and, as always, will make marketing decisions based on the best available science and will pursue compliance and enforcement actions when warranted,” said King. “We remain fully committed to taking whatever steps are necessary to protect the public health and to provide timely updates on our ongoing progress regulating non-tobacco nicotine products.”
July 14, 2022
Market Watch: Middle East

Credit: Adrian Ilie825
A relatively new market for legal vapor products, the Middle East is beginning to embrace tobacco harm reduction.
By Timothy S. Donahue
According to World Bank estimates, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) market has seen a steady decline in tobacco consumption since 2000, with 23.3 percent of adults using the products in 2000, 20.8 percent in 2010, and 19.2 percent in 2020. Many industry experts attribute this decline to the region’s growing acceptance of vapor products.
E-cigarettes were banned in Qatar in 2012 and then three years later in Oman but legalized in Bahrain and Kuwait in 2016; however, neither country immediately adopted manufacturing standards or a taxation structure. Then, in April 2019, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA) approved standards for the nicotine-based e-cigarettes. It was the first country to develop standards for the products in the region.
Before 2019, e-cigarettes were illegal in the UAE, and use of the products was growing rapidly in an unregulated market. This worried UAE regulators who wanted to curb combustible tobacco use, limit youth initiation and check a thriving vapor market.
The goal of e-cigarette regulations in the UAE was to offer nicotine consumers less risky alternatives to combustible products. The standards set by ESMA were designed to regulate all nicotine components used in vaping products, including technical specifications, ingredients, imports, packaging and labeling requirements in the UAE as well as a corresponding fiscal and tax structure.
After the success of the World Vape Show (WVS) Dubai in 2021, the first e-cigarette trade show in the region, the number of companies legally producing vapor products in the UAE has grown tremendously. During their 2022 conference, held June 16–18, WVS representatives said that they welcomed 50 percent more visitors than in 2021.
During a seminar session that focused on the growth of the Middle East markets, several speakers said that the UAE and its regulatory outlook has become a blueprint for other Middle East markets such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan and Egypt. In 2021, Saudi Arabia announced new regulations for e-cigarettes similar to the UAE (which in turn are similar to Europe’s Tobacco Products Directive).
In April of this year, Relx International, a major China-based vaping manufacturer, commended Egyptian authorities for their decision to allow the legal import and commercialization of vaping products in the country. Like Saudi Arabia, Egypt’s proposed regulations for vaping products are nearly identical to the UAE’s.
Rebecca Haining, head of external affairs for BAT’s Middle East, South Asia and North Africa markets, said that the UAE should be applauded for being the first Middle Eastern country to enact regulations. She noted that in 2019, the UAE had approximately 15,000 vapers. In 2020, that number had grown to 60,000 vapers. Today, that number is an estimated 70,000.
“They paved the way for the regulations in Saudi Arabia … I think what [the UAE] has done in this area is very important … getting the industry together to talk about what are the possible solutions. The UAE moved very quickly to institute a range of regulations and standards that now give the manufacturers certainty and give consumers some certainty around the safety and the quality of the products,” said Haining. “That’s very important, and I think it’s a job very well done.”
By lifting the ban on e-cigarette products, UAE authorities have allowed for the growth of new businesses and investment opportunities in the region. Experts say the move will bolster existing businesses that sell such products and will attract entrepreneurs. According to Arabian Business, the vaping and e-cigarette market in the MENA region is expected to grow by 9.74 percent annually to reach $485 million by 2025, up from $267.9 million in 2018, the year before UAE regulations were enacted. By comparison, the U.S. vaping market is expected to grow to $40.25 billion by 2028.
Omar Abdellatif, general manager for Philip Morris Management Services Middle East Limited, told WVS attendees that the increase of exhibitors at this year’s show, compared to 2021, reflects how many new businesses are serving the UAE market. He said the show is also an example of how the market has changed as innovation has flourished since legalization.
“Look at the evolution that has happened here in the UAE in just over one year. I think the last time you were probably sitting here [at WVS 2021] … it was a lot more about the tanks and closed pod systems; a lot more about the traditional side of vaping,” he said. “But you’ve seen what’s come up very quickly. Disposables, once they became legalized, have taken the market by a storm. And I think this is what we continue to expect. We’ll start to see these innovations.”
Some studies suggest that e-cigarettes may be gradually replacing the use of shisha products. In a joint investigation with the American University of Beirut, the Tobacco Free Initiative found that an estimated 40 percent of young adults in Lebanon are now using vaping devices instead of hookah tobacco. One speaker during the WVS said that the opportunity for e-cigarettes to replace cigarette use, and to a lesser extent hookah, “represents a considerable shift in the culture of tobacco consumption in the Middle East.”
Fadi Maaytah, CEO of Alternative Nicotine Delivery Solutions, said during the WVS that to continue the trend of moving combustible tobacco users toward less risky alternatives in the MENA region will require innovation. He said that innovation, however, should not attract new consumers but instead protect consumers looking to stop traditional smoking by bringing high-quality products to market.
“It’s not for ex-smokers. It’s not for nonsmokers. It is for smokers trying to quit. Today, the development and the flow of product that’s coming to the market, it’s coming with a lot of innovation, but the risk point here is that it might attract the wrong audiences, and this is what we see more often happening,” said Maaytah. “This is why [the industry] needs more of a collaboration between the industry and the regulators to work together and push the industry in the right direction.”
From a manufacturing perspective, positive industry innovation can only be achieved through product standards that are abided by all participants in the market, according to Haining. She said that standards are not only important for the safety and quality of products for consumers but also—if products comply with the standards—they’re less likely to have youth appeal.
“That’s part of the reason we have the standards. Secondly, from a manufacturer perspective, it’s around marketing freedoms and marketing regulations … making sure that all players in the market are marketing responsibly and not targeting youth and [are] discouraging youth uptake of these products,” she said. “If I look at an ideal situation, from a regulatory perspective, it would be regulation and excise frameworks, in general, that are proportionate to the risk [of e-cigarettes compared to combustible] cigarettes. There needs to be a wider berth between cigarettes and potentially reduced-risk products when it comes to regulations, standards, marketing freedoms and excise frameworks.”

July 12, 2022
U.S. FDA Could Enforce Synthetic Nicotine on July 13

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration tomorrow is expected to officially close the loophole that allows synthetic nicotine to be sold. July 13 is the deadline for the regulatory agency to complete its approval process on synthetic nicotine products.
It is unlikely the FDA will have been able to have reviewed premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) that were submitted by the May 14 deadline. The agency has not yet completed reviews for many other electronic nicotine-delivery system (ENDS) products using tobacco-derived nicotine that submitted PMTAs by the Sept. 9, 2020 due date.
Attorneys in the vaping industry say Congress set unrealistic deadlines for manufacturers to submit PMTAs and for the FDA to review them. The law, which took effect April 14, gave companies until May 14 to submit a PMTA, and all existing products that haven’t garnered authorization must come off the market by July 13.
The FDA said last week that it’s still reviewing the “large number of applications” it received for synthetic nicotine products, but declined to share the total number submitted, according to media reports.
Synthetic nicotine products on the market after July 13 “without an FDA marketing granted order” would be considered in violation of federal law and “may be subject to FDA enforcement,” the agency stated.
It is expected that FDA will issue at least some marketing denial orders for companies that submitted a PMTA but didn’t include required data, such as an environmental impact assessment.
In March, the U.S. Senate approved a $1.5 trillion legislation by a 68-31 bipartisan margin that included language that changed the definition of a tobacco product to include synthetic nicotine.
The rule became law 30 days after the bill’s passage date. Congress further granted synthetic nicotine products a transition period in which such products would be allowed to stay on the market until July 13, 2022, provided that they submit the required PMTA by the May 14 deadline—unless the FDA had already denied a non-synthetic version of the same product (meaning those manufacturers were subject to enforcement 30 days after the passage of the bill).
The language of the Tobacco Control Act changed to define a tobacco product as “any product made or derived from tobacco, or containing nicotine from any source, that is intended for human consumption.”
Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said that the FDA needs to act on Congress’ rules for synthetic products.
“It would be outrageous if the FDA failed to enforce the law after Congress acted with urgency to address a growing threat to the health of our nation’s kids: E-cigarette manufacturers’ use of synthetic nicotine to evade FDA regulation and keep selling flavored products that attract and addict kids,” he said. “In recent years, a growing number of e-cigarette makers have switched to using synthetic nicotine – nicotine that is made in a lab, rather than derived from tobacco – after the FDA acted against their flavored products made with tobacco-derived nicotine.”
July 12, 2022
‘Current’ Underage Vaping Jumps 3 Percent in U.K.

Photo: Oleg
Current vaping among U.K. children aged 11-17 was up from 4 percent in 2020 to 7 percent in 2022, according to the annual YouGov youth survey for Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) carried out in March and published on July 7. The proportion of children who admit ever having tried vaping has also risen from 14 percent in 2020 to 16 percent in 2022.
Disposable e-cigarettes are now the most used product among current vapers, up more than seven-fold from 7 percent in 2020 and 8 percent in 2021, to 52 percent in 2022. Elf Bar and Geek Bar are overwhelmingly the most popular, with only 30 percent of current users having tried any other brands.
Over the past year there has been growing concern about the increasing popularity of disposable vapes with young people, but this is the first time national figures have been available to show the scale of the change. ASH said the increase in vaping shown by the survey is a cause for concern, and needs close monitoring. However, 92 percent of under 18s who’ve never smoked, have also never vaped, the organization pointed out—and only 2 percent have vaped more frequently than once or twice.
“Just to give it a try” is still the most common reason given by never smokers for using an e-cigarette (65 percent). For young smokers the most common reason for using an e-cigarette was “because I like the flavors” (21 percent) followed by “I enjoy the experience” (18 percent) then “just to give it a try” (15 percent), but they also said, “because I’m trying to quit smoking” (11 percent) or “I use them instead of smoking” (9 percent). Fruit flavors remain the most popular (57 percent).
Vaping behavior is strongly age related, with 10 percent of 11-15 year olds ever having tried vaping, compared to 29 percent of 16 and 17 year olds (the figures for those currently vaping are 4 percent and 14 percent respectively). And while underage vaping has risen, underage smoking is lower than it was in 2020 (14 percent in 2022 compared to 16 percent in 2020).
For the first time this year the survey asked about awareness of promotion of e-cigarettes. Over half (56 percent) of 11-17 year olds reported being aware of e-cigarette promotion, most frequently in shops, or online, with awareness highest amongst those who’d ever vaped (72 percent). Tik Tok was the most frequently cited source of online promotion (45 percent) followed by Instagram (31 percent).
In response to the survey results, the U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) called for a range of get-tough measures to crack down on unscrupulous retailers who sell vapes to young people.
“The UKVIA understands the need for the right balance between supporting adult smokers to quit without encouraging take up amongst under-18s and ‘never-smokers,’” said UKVIA’s Director General John Dunne in a statement.
In a letter to the Department for Health and Social Care, the UKVIA proposed a set of recommendations to come down hard on those who sell vapes to minors while maintaining vaping’s critical role for helping smokers to quit, including fines of £10,000 ($11,897) and a national retail licensing scheme.
July 12, 2022
U.S. FDA Updates Safety Reporting Portal for Tobacco
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has made several updates to the desktop Safety Reporting Portal (SRP) tobacco questionnaire to improve the clarity, internal consistency and utility of the information being collected, according to the regulatory agency. The move will enhance the agency’s Center for Tobacco Products’ (CTP) public health surveillance for new and existing safety signals.
Some of the updates include:
Questions have been edited for inclusiveness and clarity that FDA is interested in health and product problems arising both from direct use of (by users) or exposure to (in nonusers) tobacco products
Questions about a tobacco product’s manufacturer are now designed with a search/select response list that provides submitters who know the manufacturer’s name with the full contact information for many of the manufacturers
The optional health questions now include questions about use of alcohol and other substances of abuse, and ask more details about diagnostic testing, treatment settings, and final health outcomes
Additionally, when manufacturers register an account in the SRP, they are asked to specify the type of manufacturer.
“FDA encourages anyone who has had a reaction to, or was hurt by, a tobacco product – or knows someone who experienced such effects – to visit the SRP and provide as much information as possible,” according to an FDA statement. “Reports from consumers/concerned citizens and healthcare professionals may be submitted anonymously, but including contact information allows FDA the option to find out more about the adverse experience. FDA reviews all tobacco-related SRP reports to identify new or concerning trends.”
July 11, 2022
Judge Blocks Washington, Oregon Flavored Vape Ban

A voter-approved ban on flavored tobacco in Washington County, Oregon, has yet to go into effect after a judge issued an injunction, saying the county wasn’t prepared to enforce it anyway.
County health officials say that’s not exactly the case. But they concede they’ll have to allow sales of the flavored products to continue for now.
It’s just the latest in a series of setbacks for the county’s first-in-the-state ban on flavored tobacco products, according to Oregon Live.
The original ban was put into place by the Washington County Commission in November of 2021 and enforcement was set to begin in January of this year.
But opponents of the ban, spearheaded by Plaid Pantry CEO Jonathan Polonsky, gathered enough signatures to put it on the ballot and let voters decide in May.
Opponents realized the ballot language would cause confusion for many voters over what a “yes” vote really meant, however, so they stopped campaigning on behalf of their own measure.
Proponents of the ban, meanwhile, spent more than $1 million to defend it, and, in the end, Washington County voters overwhelmingly opted to keep the ban.
In February, before that vote, several Washington County businesses filed a lawsuit challenging the ordinance. Serenity Vapors, King’s Hookah Lounge and Torched Illusions, represented by attorney Tony Aiello, contended in their suit that they are legal businesses and would be unfairly harmed by the county’s ordinance.
Last week, Washington County Circuit Court Judge Andrew Erwin agreed to pause the ban, which had yet to be enforced. According to Erwin, the county’s arguments for keeping the ban in place while the law was challenged weren’t “compelling,” because he said the county’s lawyer said it had zero plans to enforce it “in the foreseeable future.”
On the other hand, Erwin reasoned, the businesses would “imminently and irreparably harmed” by following the law.
In his injunction, Erwin wrote: “Defendant argues that the public’s interest in Ordinance 878 overwhelmingly trumps plaintiffs’ interests. But defendant concedes they have no plans to further the public’s interest as they do not anticipate enforcing the ordinance in the foreseeable future.”
Supporters of the ban find this logic a bit circular — the ban only went into effect on June 13 and the apparatus for enforcement is not yet in place.
“Enforcement was to start along with the state inspections for the tobacco retail licensing law,” Mary Sawyer, a county health spokesperson explained. “Businesses are inspected annually by the state to make sure they have a license and are following new state law, and then if inspectors find that businesses in Washington County are selling flavored products, they would let us know.”
After the county is notified, it would start by educating the business about the flavored products law and only write a ticket if the business then failed to comply.
“None of this happened yet,” Sawyer said, “as the state was just starting their inspections this summer and they haven’t referred any businesses to us yet.”
The county has already filed a motion to dismiss the complaint. But as of now, flavored tobacco and vape products are available in Washington County.
Jordan Schwartz is the owner of Serenity Vapors, one of the plaintiffs in the case, which has three Washington County locations. Schwartz contends that his company has helped thousands of people quit smoking.
Now, he said, customers are coming in telling him, “I guess I am going to go back to cigarettes. That’s what they’re forcing us to do.”
According to Schwartz, Serenity Vapors sells mainly vape liquid or “vape juice.”
“North of 80 percent of our business comes from some type of flavored product,” he said.
July 11, 2022
Retailers: Potential Juul Ban will Boost Other Brands

Even in the slow summer months in a college town, Aj’s Liquor in Ames, Iowa, sells roughly 160 Juul pods a week to customers between the ages of 21 to 24.
But convenience store shelves could be stripped of Juul products, depending on a decision by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about the products’ safety, according to a story in the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Will Montgomery, sales representative for Aj’s Liquor, said customers are already transitioning to alternative brands for nicotine products as the FDA considers a marketing denial order against Juul. Even if the ban is successful, Montgomery said he doesn’t expect electronic nicotine delivery systems to decrease in sales.
“People are still going to need nicotine,” Montgomery said.
Taylor Boland, director of communications for Kum & Go, said all Kum & Go stores ceased sales of all Juul products on June 23 but resumed sales following the federal court’s block.
“Kum & Go remains committed to selling age-restricted products responsibly and complying with local, state and federal laws, orders, and mandates,” Boland said in an email response to Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Montgomery said the majority of customers who buy Juuls aren’t using them to stop smoking. If they were, they’d buy lower-nicotine products, he said.
Payton Hartz started vaping because of how convenient the products were. After Juul limited their flavors, Hartz transitioned to an alternative disposable vape brand.
The potential ban has “opened the door for other companies to push to the front,” Hartz said. “I feel like the throw-away vapes hadn’t existed until the Juul really came around. I feel like with the laws, all it has really done is push more companies to be even with Juul.”
July 11, 2022