Tag: West Virginia

West Virginia House Passes ID Check for Vapes

Credit: Sean Pavone Photo
West Virginia delegates voted nearly unanimously Tuesday for a proposal that, if passed by the Senate, would require stores by law to check IDs on vape purchases, verifying one’s age with the buyer’s driving license, passport, military card, or other government identification.
The proposal is sponsored by Del. Heather Tully. She says current law is not clear on if a store must check your ID. Her proposal removes that uncertainty, according to media reports.
The proposal would increase fines for those in violation — from $250 for a first offense to a maximum of $5,000 for a fourth offense and every other instance thereafter within five years of the initial conviction.
Yet, one discrepancy remains — what age can one buy vaping products?
Federal law says 21. West Virginia law says 18.
Clark has introduced separate legislation to raise West Virginia’s age to 21.
That proposal waits action in Tully’s committee. She says its progress remains uncertain in the House.
“It’s a personal liberty question,” she told WSAZ. “I know that the body may be a little bit more divided on that — at what age is it appropriate, what age is considered an adult — and so I would rather keep the focus on checking the IDs and making sure that we are verifying the IDs for sales, rather than splitting the body on the semantics of should it be 18 or 21.”
“I get both arguments,” Clark said. “How we come across — or how we fix it? I have no clue.”
The legislation to check IDs now moves to the state Senate.
February 7, 2024
Juul Labs Settles With West Virginia for $7.9 Million

Credit: Carol
West Virginia has reached a settlement agreement with e-cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs Inc. based on its advertising and marketing practices, according to state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.
Juul Labs has agreed to a $7.9 million settlement, based on accusations the company violated West Virginia’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act, according to media reports.
The company was accused of “engaging in unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the manufacturing, designing, selling, marketing, promoting and distributing of e-cigarettes” in the state, especially promotions targeting underage users, according to Morrisey.
“This settlement puts companies like Juul in check to not copy big tobacco’s playbook and gear marketing strategies toward underage people,” he said. “In Juul’s case, we have alleged it has deceived consumers about its nicotine strength, misrepresented the nicotine equivalency of its products to traditional cigarettes and understated the risks of addiction that occur with such powerful levels of nicotine.”
The settlement represents “yet another step in Juul Labs’ ongoing commitment to resolve issues from the company’s past,” according to a statement from Austin Finan, vice president of corporate communications at Juul Labs.
“The terms of the agreement, like prior settlements, provide financial resources to further combat underage use and develop cessation programs and they reflect our current business practices, which were implemented as part of our company-wide reset in the fall of 2019,” Finan said. “With West Virginia having the highest cigarette-smoking rate in the U.S., we hope that some funds will go directly to interventions to reduce the use of combustible cigarettes and improve public health in the state.”
Juul has now settled with “40 states and territories, providing hundreds of millions of dollars to the participating states,” according to Finan.
April 10, 2023
West Virginia Governor Wants 1000% Vapor Tax Increase
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice committed to phasing out the states income tax in his 2021 State of the State Address. His proposal, submitted days ago to the state legislature for review, includes a hike in the states e-cigarette tax from 7.5 cents per millimeter of e-liquid to 75 cents per milliliter.
Credit: Pasja1000
Under the proposal, a 100 milliliter bottle would carry a tax of $75, a 1000 percent increase. The bill also increases the tax on combustible cigarettes by 80 cents per pack, bringing the total to $2 per 20 cigarettes.
At 75 cents per ml, a standard 30ml bottle of e-liquid would carry a $22.50 tax, which is 12.5 percent higher than the proposed tax burden on a full carton of cigarettes (200 cigarettes) if taxed at $2 per pack.
In a story for Filtermag.com, many West Virginia vapers, vape shop owners, and tobacco harm reduction advocates—is that many will return to smoking or resort to a dangerous black market to save money.
“We won’t be able to stay in business,” said Cheryl Lockhart, the owner of Hazy Hollow Vapors in South Charleston, West Virginia. “Nobody is going to pay for that.” The tax on the bottle would be more than the cost of the bottle itself, and most of what Lockhart sells—she ballparked up to 90 percent—are 100 milliliter bottles of e-juice. “I don’t see any path around it,” she told Filter. “It’s just one more thing.”
Another concern is that West Virginia vapers may turn to neighboring states such as Kentucky and Ohio to make e-liquid purchases and denying the state any tax dollars from vapor products. This is what happened when Massachusetts increased its vapor tax.
“No other state has a one-size-fits all volume tax higher than 10 cents per milliliter, yet Governor Justice and his team concluded that 75 cents per milliliter is rational,” said Gregory Conley, the president of the American Vaping Association. “While they may see this tax hike as a ‘small’ part of their overall plan, this is going to anger a whole lot of voters and cause them to believe their elected officials would prefer they keep smoking cigarettes.”
March 10, 2021