377 Businesses in Washington Lose Their Vaping Licenses

On December 16, it was reported that the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board stated that since the temporary ban on flavored e-cigarette products was implemented in October, at least 377 businesses have terminated their e-cigarette product licenses.

About half of the businesses are stores like Rite AID and Bartell Drugs. The other half are smaller businesses that have closed because flavored e-cigarette products made up a significant portion of their inventory.

Matt Bradley, from the Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch, owns Sky Vapor in Everett. He hopes that Governor Jay Inslee will lift the ban in February.

Due to the ban, Bradley has already closed one of his three e-cigarette stores. He stated that if the ban is not lifted, his other two stores will also close.

Bradley said, "I hope Inslee lifts the ban so we can operate as usual. They think this strategy is useless. However, he has not lifted the ban; they got what they wanted, and they took us all down."

The media reached out to the governor's office for comments but received no response.

The health department stated that the e-cigarette regulations are necessary due to a public health emergency.