Health Departments Conduct Compliance Checks On First Full Day Of Vaping Ban
NEWTON (CBS) - Less than 24 hours after Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker implemented an emergency ban on all vaping product sales statewide, local public health officials were going store to store to make sure store owners are compliant with the new roles.
The new four month ban went into effect immediately after it was announced Tuesday, and local police departments and health departments were tasked with the implementation.
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In Newton, Department of Public Health employees Teresa Kett and Aimee Sullivan went door to door, shop to shop to inform store owners of the new rules. The ban includes all vaping products and devices sold at all convenient stores and private smoke shops — even those for the 21+ community. The public health employees greeted store owners and employees with notices to hang to alert customers, as well as fact sheets detailing the new ban.
At the first stop, the 7-Eleven on Winchester Street, the owner had already put all vaping merchandise in a box in the back room. But when they stopped by Garden City Vape & Smoke, the employee behind the counter was seemingly unaware of exactly what the band entailed.
He was shocked when the health department representative told him he had to remove all vape products from the shelves immediately, and reminded them that 90% of the store sales come from vape products. The clerk asked not to be identified, but told WBZ he isn't sure the store can stay open without vaping products to sell.
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"It came as a surprise for a lot of people I think, and that was hard for small businesses like this," Health Department Employee Aimee Sullivan said after doing a compliance check at the small smoke shop.
Other smoke shop owners took more drastic steps. Vape Daddy, A six-year-old Newton vaping store, had already shut its doors. The lights were off and the doors were locked, but the owners were inside, packing up merchandise. "Vape Daddy's is done," owner David Berchad told WBZ. "I mean, we are sitting on a boatload of inventory that we can't sell. I will be looking for my next career very shortly." He and his partner own two other stores in the state.
Different health departments in different municipalities are enforcing the new ban in different ways. Some, like in Peabody, are mailing out flyers to warn store owners first. Others conducted physical checks, and while several tell WBZ they did find violations of the new ban, they are giving store owners time to comply before fining them.