GOP Leaders Promise Major Changes to Vaping Regulations

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Republican legislative leaders say they want to loosen Indiana’s rigid regulations on the vaping industry, arguing that the rules have choked off what had been a rapidly growing market and prompted an FBI investigation.

The regulations were passed in 2015, ostensibly to ensure that the nicotine content in e-liquid used by vaping consumers met safety standards. But they were revised last year in a way that effectively gave a Lafayette-based security company complete discretion over who could be certified to manufacture “e-liquid” in Indiana.   Now, many lawmakers say they have been interviewed by the FBI, which has declined to comment on the probe. GOP leaders who control the state legislature say removing the strict rules is a top priority. That marks a shift from last year, when a small number of lawmakers warned that Republicans were ignoring the reality that the stringent safety and certification process required by the bills would create a monopoly.   “We don’t need this many regulations to ensure safety. We don’t do this for food, and we don’t do it for the coffee we drank this morning,” said Rep. Randy Frye, R-Logansport, who is sponsoring the legal reforms. “The licensing process should be decided by the government, not by a private business creating a monopoly.”   Only Lafayette-based security company Mulhaupt’s Inc. met the law’s requirements. Mike Braun of the Indianapolis Business Journal reported that the company set the license application deadline for e-liquid manufacturers just one week before the bill was signed into law. Mulhaupt certified only six companies to produce the liquid, freezing out other businesses in the process.   The company is based in the district of Republican state Sen. Ron Alting, chairman of the Senate Public Policy Committee, who helped shepherd the legislation through the General Assembly.