Vape Shop Owners Furious Over E-Cigarette Taxes, Regulations
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Experts believe flavored tobacco products in e-cigarettes is one reason use among teenagers has skyrocketed.
New regulations include banning sales to anyone under the age of 18. They also prohibit vape shops from giving free samples to customers.
Matthew Mancuso owns Vapori in Uniontown. He says he never sold to minors and is in favor of product safety, but not being able to allow adult customers to sample products will hurt his business.
"We have juice that contains no nicotine. Nicotine-free juice. And that's classified as a tobacco product, even though there's no nicotine in it," he says. "Legally I can't leave a bottle of nicotine free juice out for customers to try to see if that flavor may help them in quitting smoking."
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The FDA will also have to approve all e-cigarette products that have been available since 2007. That means every product must go through an application process to determine whether it can continue to be sold.
And in Pennsylvania, a 40 percent wholesale tax will be imposed on vapor products starting in October.
Mancuso says it will drive small shops out of business.
"It's probably going to force most of us to close our doors. The 40 percent tax that's coming is going to be assessed on our end when we purchase the product,' he says.
E-cigarette groups have already launched a legal battle, citing studies that e-cigarettes are a safer alternative to smoking.
"I don't understand why you would want to ban and put death sentence regulations on a harm reduction product," Mancuso says.
The FDA says it believes its approach is well-balanced.