The Vapor Technology Association (VTA) announced the launch of a cable news ad buy targeting Sen. Chuck Schumer and his proposed ban on Zyn nicotine pouches. The ad runs this week on FOX News and FOX Business during key programming slots, including “FOX and Friends,” “Kudlow,” and “The Five.”
Sen. Charles Schumer
The ad connects a proposed ban on e-cigarettes with a ban on all less harmful, tobacco-free nicotine products, such as Zyn nicotine pouches. The ad also calls out entrenched bureaucrats at the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), led by Brian King, for repeatedly blocking access for millions to e-cigarettes as harm reduction tools that the science has proven are the most effective product on the market to help people quit smoking cigarettes, according to an emailed press release.
“Sen. Schumer and the FDA are simply wrong: wrong on e-cigarettes, wrong on Zyn, and wrong on the science,” said Tony Abboud, executive director of VTA. “Rather than give adult smokers broader access to a greater number of lower-risk alternatives, the FDA and CTP have instead imposed a de facto ban on e-cigarettes – and Zyn is next.”
The ad states that Schumer’s proposed Zyn ban precisely mimics his attempts to eliminate e-cigarette use nationwide, amounting to an assault on Americans’ personal freedom to choose lower-risk, tobacco-free nicotine products that overwhelming scientific and medical data demonstrates are effective at helping adults quit smoking.
Fentanyl misinformation could come with consequences much worse than those experienced with EVALI.
By Timothy S. Donahue
Earlier this year, media reports began to circulate that a dangerous trend was beginning to emerge in the vaping industry: the proliferation of fentanyl-laced vapes. “This lethal combination of the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl and electronic cigarettes has raised serious concerns among health experts, law enforcement agencies and the general public,” wrote PharmChek, a drug abuse data source.
The first report of fentanyl-laced vaping products appeared in September 2019, when the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) San Diego division was contacted by local authorities regarding a suspected fentanyl overdose death. The roommate of the deceased, who admitted to vaping fentanyl regularly, told agents there was fentanyl and possibly other drugs located in their shared residence as well as fentanyl-laced “vape” tanks, according to the DEA. The San Diego County Medical Examiner reports that this was the first case in which they had found fentanyl in vape pens.
The vaping devices were not sold in any store. They were not marketed as fentanyl vape pens. The products were adulterated products that were then sold on the black market, according to the DEA. Media reports at the time did not mention that vapes were altered illegally and instead blamed the nicotine vaping industry for the contaminated devices.
During the Next Generation Nicotine Delivery 2023 conference held in Miami in June, Tony Abboud, executive director of the Vapor Technology Association (VTA), said that vaping industry veterans may remember something similar in vaping’s recent past that resembles the fentanyl crisis.
In August 2019, an Illinois man succumbed in a hospital to a mysterious lung disease caused by a vaping product. Soon after, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the initial instance of what it called e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI). The number of cases hit its peak in September before dropping off through February 2020, at which point there were 2,807 reports and 68 deaths.
Experts believe that one of the primary causes of the EVALI outbreak was vitamin E acetate, which had been added to some vaping products as a thinner. Additionally, many cases included tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-containing products, not nicotine vaping products. Neither the CDC nor the U.S. Food and Drug Administration challenged the disinformation being disseminated by media outlets and anti-nicotine groups blaming nicotine e-cigarettes for the EVALI crisis. It nearly decimated the vaping industry.
EVALI and the false reporting surrounding its cause boosted misinformation surrounding nicotine vaping products. A study led by researchers at the American Cancer Society at the time showed that perceptions of e-cigarettes as being “more harmful” than cigarettes by adults in the United States more than doubled between 2019 and 2020 and that perceptions of e-cigarettes as “less harmful” declined between 2018 and 2020 when the EVALI concern was at its peak.
It wasn’t until late October 2019 that any government organization stated publicly that nicotine vaping products were not the cause of EVALI. Abboud warned conference attendees that if the e-cigarette industry doesn’t react differently to the misinformation surrounding nicotine vaping and illicit fentanyl-laced vaping products, the industry may not survive.
“The misinformation that went along with the EVALI crisis had a traumatic impact not just on businesses but on consumers’ perceptions about vaping products in general. And it was driven largely by the media,” explained Abboud. “It was on the media every single day …. The most important thing, obviously, at this time, was for our regulatory bodies to figure out and speak clearly about what was causing the problem. That did not occur in the manner that it should have occurred.”
The false link between nicotine vaping products and EVALI was also hijacked by anti-nicotine advocates, such as Matthew L. Myers, who was with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids at the time, and Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire philanthropist and financial backer of anti-vaping organizations. The day after the CDC EVALI announcement, Myers and Bloomberg hit the airwaves talking about flavored vaping products and their commitment to spend $160 million to remove flavored vaping products from the market. Flavors attract kids, and EVALI would kill them, the group claimed.
“What they said was frankly unconscionable because they leveraged the [then] current EVALI crisis that did not have anything to do with flavored nicotine products to their benefit. The impact of this kind of narrative led to the next day when President Trump announced [d] his ban on all flavors,” said Abboud. “At this point, we knew that the industry was facing somewhat of an existential crisis because they were talking about removing a huge segment of the market and a larger segment of the independent vaping industry. And that would have dramatic repercussions down the road.
“We immediately started acting. We had to get on TV to explain what was really going on with vitamin E acetate to make clear that this was an illicit THC issue. We had to frame the issue in terms of public health. We also had to create the issue in terms of jobs. But we had to do more than that. We had to launch a public affairs campaign that made clear what was at stake with this policy decision that was made in this vacuum without frankly any sort of regulatory process behind it.”
After several e-cigarette advocacy organizations sat down with President Trump to discuss flavors, the FDA only banned flavors in closed pod systems. Disposables were still going to avoid enforcement. Many in the industry say this FDA decision was the catalyst to the current issues of flavors and youth use. The FDA has not authorized a flavor other than tobacco. “But in that, the industry was largely preserved, and companies were able to stay in business,” said Abboud.
Credit: Momius
The next false flag
On May 18, Tom Price, a former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, published an op-ed on FoxNews.com where he started a narrative in the media about fentanyl-laced vaping products being imported from China in disposable vaping products. He offers no evidence of China’s involvement in the importation of fentanyl-laced vaping products other than China making most of the e-cigarette hardware.
“Reports suggest these Chinese manufacturers are also boosting disposable vapes with illegal levels of nicotine to increase addiction levels among our children. But while added nicotine makes e-cigarettes more addictive for our kids, adding fentanyl to them can make them deadly,” Price wrote. “Given the extent that China funnels fentanyl into America, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that reports indicate officials have found some of these vapes laced with fentanyl.”
There is no denying that fentanyl is a public health crisis. People are dying from overdosing on fentanyl because the U.S. has a huge problem in keeping illicit drugs out of the country, said Abboud. However, the “out-of-the-blue op-ed” tying fentanyl to Chinese-made disposable flavored vaping products is a new approach and new message.
Abboud then revealed a series of op-eds that were published in June all making the same points. “It was quickly [brought up again] in June by the former GOP National Committee member from Nevada who makes almost identical statements, ‘flavored disposable vaping products are dangerous, but those coming from communist China are especially dangerous because they include fentanyl,’” said Abboud. Now, according to the op-ed, “kids are experimenting with vaping fentanyl. You see what’s happening here. That was June 10. Then media reports began talking about fentanyl vapes from Mexico. On June 11, a Georgia State senator penned an op-ed (that toed the same line).”
The unsubstantiated claims that e-cigarettes contain fentanyl are increasing in frequency. Curiously, these cases have involved illicit THC vape pens or other devices—not disposables and not e-cigarettes purchased from reputable manufacturers, according to Abboud. Yet, a bill has now been introduced in the U.S. House filed by a member of Congress from the state of Florida that would remove flavored disposable vaping products from the market because of the fentanyl crisis. This call was amplified by a Florida-based retail association that made the same false claims about nicotine e-cigarettes.
The unsubstantiated association between vaping and fentanyl is showing up in regulatory conversations as well, but interestingly, only disposables are implicated even though the organic media stories have involved all device types, according to Abboud. He said the first place that he found the association made in a regulatory context was when R.J. Reynolds filed a citizen petition on Feb. 6, 2023, asking for the FDA to use its enforcement powers to remove flavored disposable vaping products from the market because “illicit market-supplied vaping products are being laced with products such as fentanyl, which is lethal in doses as small as 2 milligrams.” A few days later, a bill was introduced in Congress to force the FDA to act on removing flavored disposables.
In March, Robert Califf, commissioner of the FDA, testified before the House Appropriations Committee. “He is questioned by Representative Newhouse, and the question posed was ‘Can you tell us about your plan to get these potentially dangerous Chinese products off of the market and out of the hands of kids, and can you tell us what companies that you have (taken off the market) and that these products don’t contain harmful contents like fentanyl?’ There really hadn’t been much reporting on this issue before this, but (Califf) was asked this question,” said Abboud.
Califf told Congress that “There’s recently been some publicity,” and “it’s no surprise but of great concern to me that fentanyl may be showing up now in vaping products, [that] it was just a matter of time” and that the United States needs an all-of-government approach to protect kids from this threat.
The VTA reviewed all the stories that it could find that mentioned vaping and fentanyl. Abboud confirmed that the device in Reynolds’ petition was not disposable. The devices that were confiscated were vape pens, an open system and a pod device. The authorities, in that case, said that they found that the devices were altered when fentanyl or heroin was injected through the device into the e-liquid. All the other fentanyl reports involved cartridge-style vape pens or THC products. “Of all the cases that we looked at, only one of them even mentioned a disposable, a flavored disposable,” said Abboud. “Perhaps it’s time to ask the question ‘Why are we seeing this manufactured media narrative that is not supported by any publicly available data?’ Creating unfounded fears among consumers about fentanyl will harm the entire vaping industry and will make a mockery of the concept of tobacco harm reduction altogether.”
The ultimate issue is that misinformation, as it relates to e-cigarettes, drives people back to smoking. The FDA has also talked about this publicly. CTP Director Brian King has expressed concerns over the misinformation surrounding vaping products, and he understands that there are misperceptions as it relates to nicotine and many products. However, the vaping industry is once again in a position where disinformation is driving a false narrative that will spin out of control, according to Abboud.
“My perspective is that this is an intentional false flag. If, as asserted, millions and millions of illegally imported disposable vapes are coming into the country laced with fentanyl, where’s the outbreak? This is not something that would just ‘not’ be reported on. And as I’ve said, we looked at the reports, and there is just slim evidence that there is any connection between the fentanyl epidemic and nicotine vaping,” explains Abboud. “The problem, of course, is that we have illicit THC vapes [in] the United States that are the real issue. And given how unforgiving the Chinese government is toward illicit drugs, does anybody really believe [Chinese manufacturers] are going to make THC vapes adulterated with fentanyl and take the risk of being imprisoned or worse in their own country?”
It seems like deja vu all over again. Abboud said that if the vaping industry allows a manufactured crisis that associates fentanyl with nicotine vaping devices to take hold, the entire industry will never recover in the eyes of the consumer. “As soon as you say vaping and fentanyl, consumers will not distinguish between disposables and open systems. They will reduce their risk, and for many, that will, unfortunately, mean a return to smoking,” said Abboud. “As with EVALI, we have hyped and overgeneralized headlines in the media talking about vaping. We have had direct calls for eliminating flavored nicotine in vaping and specifically flavored disposable products.
“And we have regulators who contribute to this misleading narrative, specifically the statement made by the FDA commissioner in front of Congress. The bottom line is that I don’t think this industry gets three strikes. EVALI, strike one. I think this [fentanyl in vape devices] narrative, if it takes hold, the way it appears to be being pushed to take hold is strike two. The vaping industry won’t get a third at-bat.”
The Vapor Technology Association (VTA) has filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of a petition for writ of certiorari in a case against L.A. County’s ordinance banning flavored tobacco products.
Citing the substantial impact on America’s economy created by the sale of tobacco products, the trade group says Supreme Court review of the flavor ban is critical.
According to an economic impact report prepared by John Dunham and Associates, the independent vapor industry comprises more than 10,000 companies across the United States and is responsible for generating more than 130,000 jobs and more than $22 billion in economic activity for the U.S. economy.
In its amicus brief, the VTA argues that this industry would be devastated by unrestricted flavor bans given its unique and substantial reliance on the sale of flavored vapor products to adult consumers.
The trade group also notes that since the passage of the L.A. County Ordinance, leading tobacco control scientists have challenged the notion of banning e-cigarette flavors and have warned that decreasing availability of flavored vaping products harms the ability of adult smokers to quit smoking cigarettes.
Instead of blanket bans, these tobacco control scientists endorse alternative time, place and manner restrictions for the sale of flavored vaping products, the VTA notes in its amicus brief.
Permitting local and state governments to implement unscientific bans that directly interfere with the fundamental purpose of the Tobacco Control Act and would overrule the Food and Drug Administration’s decision-making for products deemed appropriate for the protection of public health is not only unlawful but is dangerous from a public health perspective, the VTA wrote.
Tobacco and vape flavor bans have gained momentum in the U.S. On Nov. 8, Californians voted to uphold a state law ending the sale of most flavored tobacco products.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals granted the Vapor Technology Association’s (VTA) unopposed motion to file an amicus brief in support of Petitioners’ Petition for a Rehearing En Banc in the case Wages & White Lion Investments, a/k/a/ Triton Distribution v. FDA.
Recently, a panel of 5th Circuit judges denied Triton Distribution’s appeal of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s marketing denial order for its flavored e-liquid products in a 2-1 decision. Thereafter, Triton filed a petition for en banc review, asking the entire 5th Circuit to reconsider the ruling.
The VTA’s amicus brief supports Triton’s request by explaining that it involves issues of “exceptional importance” necessitating review by the entire 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The VTA’s amicus brief highlights three key points: economist John Dunham and Associates’ evaluation of the adverse economic impact that the ruling would have if it led to the removal of all flavored open system vaping products from the states comprising the 5th Circuit (Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas); the leading tobacco control scientists who have warned that removing flavors will deter adult smokers from quitting and have recommended limiting the sale of flavored vaping products to adult-only stores; and the results of the VTA’s analysis of the FDA’s compliance data between Jan. 1, 2020, and June 30, 2022, which reveal that the rate of illegal youth sales of cigarettes and cigars are twice the rate of vaping products.
A judge says the state of New York state will now have to reimburse the Vapor Technology Association’s (VTA) attorney fees after the state attempted to ban flavored vaping products last year.
Acting state Supreme Court Justice Catherine Cholakis said wednesday that she agreed that state officials overreached their authority and thus should cover the legal costs associated with fighting the ban.
Several vape shops and the VTA are seeking about $381,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs from the state. Cholakis noted an evidentiary hearing will be set to determine if the amount is accurate, court records show, according to The Journal News.
In the order, Cholakis noted the state Attorney General’s Office lawyers representing New York made a compelling case that the emergency ban “was in response to the serious problems of underage vaping and pulmonary illnesses traced to vaping.”
But in explaining why the state must cover the group’s attorneys fees, she added: “There can be no denying the seriousness of the health issues surrounding vaping. Concern for those issues, however, cannot excuse clearly unconstitutional action.”
Cholakis, however, questioned the amount of money sought by the vaping groups.
New York state’s lawyers “bristle, though, at the amount of costs and fees sought by (the vaping group),” she wrote.
The Vapor Technology Association has launched a program for individual memberships.
By VV Staff
The vapor industry’s fight for survival has only just begun. While the deadline for premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) has passed, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet approved an e-liquid-based electronic nicotine-delivery system (ENDS).
Several states have passed flavor bans and many more are considering the action even as studies show youth use declining. On the federal level, several lawmakers have proposed flavor bans as well as outright bans on all vapor products. Vapor industry experts say they expect these regulatory actions to continue to burden the marketplace for some time.
For the voices of the industry to be heard by lawmakers, the vapor industry depends on several advocacy groups. One of the largest groups—which has also effectively lobbied at the federal and state levels—is the Vapor Technology Association (VTA). Traditionally, however, the VTA has only allowed business owners to serve as members. That rule has now changed. Just moments after the PMTA deadline passed, the VTA launched its first-ever individual membership program.
“By welcoming Individual members, VTA’s board has recognized the critical importance of amplifying the millions of voices for vaping—former smokers who have turned to vapor products on their journey to quit smoking—as well as for the business owners who serve them,” says VTA Executive Director Tony Abboud. “This new membership will take our unified fight to defend vapor to the next level by combining the power of consumers and businesses into the largest vapor advocacy force in the country.”
The individual membership program is designed to engage more vapers and vape advocates in the VTA’s mission to save the vapor industry, according to Abboud. The program is part of the organization’s “Voices for Vaping” initiative that VTA launched in 2018 to amplify the voices for vaping in defense of vapor products.
“Now, VTA is taking the fight to the next level by combining the power of businesses and consumers into the strongest vapor advocacy association defending your right to vape and sell vapor products,” says Abboud. “This membership will elevate the voices of vapers and those individuals who believe in vaping and engage them in the fight with access to cutting-edge advocacy tools.”
Consumers have always been a part of vapor advocacy. It’s the customer’s lives that are saved when they switch to vapor products from combustible tobacco. “We’ve always lauded the collective power of the vapor community,” says Abboud. “Our most successful battles have been fought hand in hand with consumers, and now we want to bring together the multitude of voices that use vapor products to maximize our impact, especially as highly coordinated critics continue their offensive against vapers and the industry.”
The cost of a VTA individual membership is $25 a year. Upon joining VTA, a recent press release states that individual members will benefit by joining “sophisticated and established lobbying efforts to protect their right to vape. “VTA has lobbied in Washington, D.C., for the past five years and, in the past two years, VTA lobbied in 40 state capitals defending vapor,” the release states. “The impact of businesses and individual consumers fighting side by side guided by professional lobbying teams cannot be overstated.”
Members will also receive up-to-date information on all things vapor, participate in successful vapor advocacy campaigns, access advanced technology to engage with legislators and local media and receive discounts on vapor products at participating stores across the country. “VTA believes that consumers—the actual Voices for Vaping—will make all the difference in the ongoing fight to save vapor. Knowing that ‘all politics is local,’ VTA has invested in new technology that will link your voice directly with media in your community,” according to the release.
Credit: Vaporesso
To help in this effort, the VTA offers online advocacy software that makes it easy for consumers to connect with their legislators by signing petitions, sending emails and getting their message to them on Twitter and Facebook. “More importantly, because all politics is local, VTA now has software that makes it easier for individual consumers to tell their personalized stories in the form of letters to editor so that they can be submitted to all the local news outlets of their choosing in one shot,” explains Abboud. “This tool will allow coordinated letter-to-the-editor campaigns rivaling those of the highly funded opponents of vaping.”
Flavors have long been important to retailers, distributors and consumers. After joining the VTA online, new members will receive a welcome email that states, “The commitment of our board of directors to defending flavors is unmatched. We are dedicated to preserving a diverse industry filled with small businesses selling a variety of the flavors that are being demanded by adults like you.”
When President Donald Trump announced he would be banning flavors in all vapor products last year, the VTA responded by crafting and funding a successful advocacy campaign, according to Abboud. The campaign involved a discrete digital campaign, two national television advertisements defending flavors and the industry, and the polling of individual vaping consumers.
“[The campaign] framed the issue clearly for the president that vapers overwhelmingly opposed flavor bans and overwhelmingly support raising the age to smoke and vape. As a result of this campaign, [the] VTA was invited to the White House to share with President Trump the important role flavored e-cigarettes played in helping adults quit and stay away from combustible cigarettes,” says Abboud. “Without [the] VTA’s campaign, it is safe to say [that] the White House would not have reversed course and preserved the open-system flavored e-liquids relied on by vapers throughout the U.S.”
Credit: Echo Grid
Abboud told Vapor Voice that, earlier this month, the VTA and its members (including new individual members) successfully obtained the first gubernatorial veto of a flavor ban in Florida. “Immediately after the bill passed the state legislature in March, the VTA began a multimedia veto campaign strategy that involved the VapersSayVeto call to action site, a television advertisement directed at the governor, a social media drumbeat, and professional economic analysis from economist John Dunham & Associates,” says Abboud. “[The] VTA’s vapers and vapor businesses, along with the Florida Smoke Free Association’s vapers and vapor businesses, presented an unrelenting united front against the ban, educating Governor DeSantis on its impacts and ultimately influencing his decision to veto.”
The VTA has a large variety of industry players as members. These include numerous state associations, manufacturers, distributors and retail stores. Those members have played an active role in spreading the word about the new program. “[They are] encouraging the consumers they interact with on a regular basis to defend their right to vape by becoming Individual members,” Abboud says. “Already, we’re seeing high levels of engagement and a growing VTA community that will render us stronger for whatever challenges lie ahead.”
Abboud says that as a bonus to individual consumers who join the VTA, some retail stores are offering discounts. “Over 200 stores across the country have signed up to participate and offer discounts to VTA individual members. Check with your local shops or check out our website for shops near you to see who is participating,” he says. “VTA has the largest network of vape shop members, but any store can sign up to participate.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will release a list to help support retailers. The regulatory agency now says it will break protocol and publish the names of manufacturers and products that have accepted premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) on file by the Sept. 9 deadline.
In a press note on Monday, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, Mitch Zeller, wrote that the FDA plans to make publicly available a list of the deemed new tobacco products that are subject to the Sept. 9 deadline and were on the market as of Aug. 8, 2016.
“And for which a premarket application is submitted by Sept. 9, 2020,” Zeller wrote. “However, before doing so, we will need to ensure that the publishing of any such information complies with federal disclosure laws and regulations as only certain types of product information from applications can be lawfully disclosed.”
The news comes just one week after several retail groups submitted a letter to the agency asking for a published list of applicants. The Vapor Technology Association, a vapor industry advocacy group, asked the FDA more than a month ago for a published list.
The FDA also noted that while the deadline is on September 9, 2020, it will take FDA some time for the agency to compile and confirm that the list is accurate before publication. “The fact that FDA will be publishing such a list is dramatic change from their prior practice,” wrote VTA Executive Director Tony Abboud in an email. “In the meantime, we will do our best to inform you of VTA members which are participating in the process.”
Zeller stated that the agency requests patience from stakeholders as the agency works through the appropriate processes to ensure the posted information is accurate and compliant with federal laws. In the interim, Zeller stated that retailers and other interested parties should refer to the public statements made by the companies or contact the companies directly to get information about applications they may have submitted.
Several vapor companies have stepped up during the Covid-19 crisis to help the communities they serve.
By Timothy S. Donahue
The vapor industry has produced millions of bottles of hand sanitizer during the Covid-19 pandemic. Several e-liquid manufacturing companies redesigned their production lines to help replenish one of the most-needed products since safety protocols to help slow the virus began in March. Manufacturers and retailers then donated much of the product to frontline organizations in need such as hospitals, police departments and nursing homes across the U.S.
Turning Point Brands (TPB) was one of the first companies to start producing hand sanitizer. The company said it expected to produce 6,600 liters of hand sanitizer for hospitals and retirement communities. TPB repurposed select manufacturing infrastructure to produce the free hand sanitizer for communities in California, Kentucky and Tennessee, according to the company.
“Our company takes very seriously our role in providing support to the communities where we operate. We hope that through this action we can both help those impacted by the Covid-19 situation and inspire others to act,” said Larry Wexler, president and CEO of TPB.
E-Liquitech was another company that repurposed infrastructure to produce hand sanitizer. George Cassels-Smith, president of E-Liquitech, said that his company teamed up with bottling partner C&C Bottling, which also manufactures several over-the-counter drugs. “We are producing about 11,000 gallons of hand sanitizer a day, six days a week,” said Cassels-Smith. “We had some extra equipment as well that we are using strictly for sanitizer production.”
Maryland-based E-Liquitech donates several hundred gallons of hand sanitizer to local hospitals in Maryland every week. The company plans on continuing to produce hand sanitizer and has now teamed up with several major distribution companies in order to resupply depleted store shelves. Cassells-Smith says it was just the right thing to do.
“There was a need and we had the ability to help out, so we put a plan in place and acted on it,” he says. “You are going to see people cleaning their hands with hand sanitizer for a long time. It’s going to be the new normal.”
In Virginia, Avail Vapor donated more than 5,000 masks to the Virginia Department of Emergency Management to help medical professionals on the frontlines of the coronavirus battle protect themselves.
James Xu, CEO and chairman of Avail, said that the idea came to light early in the pandemic when Avail employees heard about the shortage of masks in China when Covid-19 initially struck. Avail works closely with many Chinese suppliers, and Avail employees wanted to support these suppliers in their time of need. When the virus began impacting the United States, those same Chinese colleagues returned the generosity and shipped thousands of masks to Avail head-quarters for employees and healthcare workers.
“To be successful, our business has always been highly collaborative with global partners,” said Xu. “To see our employees proactively answer a need for their Chinese counterparts was special. Now we are so grateful to our Chinese friends for helping us defend our citizens in this pandemic.”
LCF Labs, a Southern California-based e-liquid manufacturer, also began producing sanitizer. The company donated 100,000 bottles and is co-packing up to 20 million bottles with a distributor for Costco, Walgreens and other large retailers. River Supply Company has produced 10,000 bottles of hand sanitizer to date for local hospitals and nursing homes in California. Mr. Salt-E donated 10,000 bottles to e-liquid manufacturers that are producing hand sanitizer.
In Ohio, James Jarvis, who owns three vape shops, donated several hundred bottles of hand sanitizer to local police departments. Jarvis said that recipients of the sanitizer were genuinely pleased and excited. Tony Abboud, executive director for the Vapor Technology Association (VTA), a vapor industry advocacy group, says that his organization was informed of numerous examples of the vapor industry joining together to combat the coronavirus.
“[The] VTA has been working to support our member companies, which have stepped up to manufacture, bottle and distribute much needed hand sanitizer throughout our communities. [The] VTA is working with its members to source additional materials to further expand the great work already being done,” said Abboud in an email. “We are all in this together, and we are so proud of the way our community has rallied together to help get our nation through this public health crisis.”
Several China-based manufacturers also donated supplies to those in need. Relx Technology announced the extension of the Relx “For You With Care” project to support its inter-national partners during the Covid-19 crisis. Relx initially sent 78,200 masks and over 515 gallons of hand sanitizer to its global distributors, partners and store owners.
Credit: Praveen Kumar
“Relx is wholly committed to supporting the well-being of our employees, partners and store owners during the Covid-19 pandemic. As a global startup, we are doing what we can to help our global community. We hope our modest donation will help them during these trying times,” said Relx founder and CEO Kate Wang.
Abboud says he isn’t surprised by the generosity of the vapor industry. After all, the industry is founded on the principle of harm reduction and ending the 400,000 deaths caused every year by combustible cigarettes.
“We are incredibly proud of the vapor industry for stepping up, even as their own businesses continue to confront the economic fallout of this crisis,” said Abboud. “Vapor companies haven’t hesitated to take a leading role in their communities, making a difference in innovative and impactful ways. Their commitment to service is no surprise given that these business owners have made it their mission to support smokers and former smokers as they transition away from deadly cigarettes.” V
The companies mentioned in the article aren’t the only ones practicing good corporate social responsibility. The list of vapor companies helping their communities is long. While we can’t possibly name them all, here are just a few more examples, courtesy of the Vapor Technology Association:
• Lakes Vape and Rec Supply donated 363 bottles of hand sanitizer to fire departments, nursing homes and businesses in their Minnesota community, including UPS and FedEx. • Madwell Collective has produced 6,340 gallons of hand sanitizer to date.• Ripe Vapes has produced 500,000 bottles of hand sanitizer to date, donating one of every two bottles sold VapeRite has produced 12,000 bottles of hand sanitizer to date for first responders and food delivery workers in Atlanta, Georgia.
• Mech Sauce produced 1,500 bottles of hand sanitizer for the local U.S. Postal Service and seniors in Virginia.
• Chubby Gorilla donates empty bottles to be filled with hand sanitizer for distribution. • Midnight Manufacturing produces 300,000 bottles weekly to support hand sanitizer distribution efforts. • Mob Liquid is committed to producing 10,000 bottles of hand sanitizer weekly. • EjuiceBLVD is producing 6,000 to 7,000 bottles of hand sanitizer weekly. • Euless Vapor donated 150 bottles to their local fire and police departments in Texas. • USA Vape Labs has produced 5,000 gallons of hand sanitizer for local nursing homes, local medical facilities and government employees. • Boosted Juice donated 600 bottles to local police departments in Colorado.
The US state of Maryland’s Governor vetoed vapor tax legislation in House Bill 732. The vapor industry initially faced an 86 percent wholesale tax on all vapor products, which included devices and liquids.
The Maryland General Assembly spent a majority of the legislative session in search of new revenues to fill budget gaps and eventually turned its attention to vapor products, according to Tony Abboud, executive director for the Vapor Technology Association (VTA).
The VTA and the Maryland Vapor Alliance (MVA) engaged key committee members, participated in hearings, and worked behind the scenes to offer alternatives to the 86 percent tax, according to a press note. “After much debate, the General Assembly decided to move forward with a 12 percent point of sale tax on devices and liquids with an exception on containers under 5 milliliters, which would have a 60 percent wholesale tax,” the note states. “After the tax passed, VTA and MVA worked to educate the Governor’s Office on the adverse impact such a tax would have on Maryland small businesses.”
Governor Larry Hogan then vetoed the legislation. “These misguided bills would raise taxes and fees on Marylanders at a time when many are already out of work and financially struggling. With our state in the midst of a global pandemic and economic crash, and just beginning on our road to recovery, it would be unconscionable to raise taxes and fees now,” Hogan said.
In Maryland, a three-fifths vote of the elected members of both chambers is necessary to override the Governor’s veto. Because there were several tax increases vetoed, there could be efforts in the General Assembly to override the veto, according to the VTA.
