Vape Shop Owner: FDA E-Cigarette Rules Could Wipe Out the Vaping Industry

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has stepped up its regulation of the e-cigarette industry, imposing stricter rules on vape shops, banning free samples, and requiring anyone who checks IDs to be at least 18 years old.

For people who have quit smoking and switched to vaping, many say it has helped them feel better.

Recently, the FDA changed the rules governing vaping, and those changes will affect shops across the country.

“Now, with these regulations, there are things I can’t say anymore. I can’t tell them what worked for me or how it helped me,” Brian Power said.

The owner of a vape shop in Fargo said that so far, the FDA’s changes have not yet had a massive impact on the vaping industry.

“It’s not hurting us that much right now. It just means we have to do things differently. The big problem will come in about 22 months if these laws aren’t changed,” said Darius Endres, owner of Sports Vape.

What makes it difficult, according to shop owners, is that the new rules do not make much sense.

“They wrote the rules so broadly that they’re not helping anyone. They’re just creating more confusion,” Power said.

Previously, shops could offer free samples and help customers with devices. Now, that is no longer possible.

“If someone is doing things the wrong way, then consequences should follow. But shops like ours are here to help,” Power said.

If these new rules remain in place, the owners say they believe the impact on the vaping industry will be enormous.

“If all the laws the FDA has rolled out stay exactly as they are, I’d say 99% of the industry will be gone by August 2018,” Endres said.

Under the new rules, shops will also be required to submit premarket tobacco applications for every e-liquid flavor before sale, at every nicotine strength and in every bottle size.