Business Indiana, Friday, January 31, 2020 — 15
Vape shop owners weigh in on pending law
By PATRICK CLOONAN pcloonan@indianagazette.net V aping takes on differ- ent forms, depending on the device used. There actually are two dis- tinct classes of vaping de- vices: Smaller, closed devices that can be bought at con- venience stores, and larger, open devices that are offered by stores specifically de- signed to sell them. The former usually offer more nicotine than the latter. An example of the latter, Vapor Expressions, tells cus- tomers online that it “was es- tablished in 2013 with the goal of giving smokers a healthier alternative to tradi- tional cigarettes.” “We sell really low mil- ligram dosages,” said Tony Zanghi, who owns Vapor Ex- pressions stores in Indiana, Altoona and Johnstown. “We were trying to get people to quit smoking with small amounts of nicotine.” On the other hand, a major producer of what the FDA calls “electronic nicotine de- livery systems,” or ENDS, Juul Labs Inc., stated on its website that “JUUL pods contain cigarette-like strength nicotine levels via (a) proprietary nicotine salts formula.” On Jan. 2, U.S. health offi-
it’s May 2020, which doesn’t give anybody a chance to get their applications done.” Zanghi predicted that PMTA “will destroy 90 per- cent of this business.” O’Neil isn’t so pessimistic. “It shouldn’t (affect Coil Kingz) because I don’tmanu- facture any of my own prod- ucts,” O’Neil said. “I am just a retail outlet. I would have to look into that a little bit more to see if this is going to affect any of my products.” The Coil Kingz owner said he is “taking proper steps to make sure.” Zanghi has not been pleased by “untruths from the media” about vapor products. “The media and other peo- ple decided to go the other way and demonize it,” the Vapor Expressions owner said. “It did affect our sales temporarily,” by 10 percent. “Fortunately we have a very supportive base of cus- tomers.”
relating to a 2019 National Youth Tobacco Survey and Monitoring the Future sur- vey. “These results are unac- ceptable and that is why we must reset the vapor catego- ry in the U.S. and earn the trust of society by working cooperatively with regula- tors, attorneys general, pub- lic health officials and other stakeholders to combat un- derage use,” Crosthwaite said. JUUL is hardly alone as a supplier of high-nicotine de- vices. As of 2014, according to Wikipedia, there were more than 460 brands world- wide, with most made in the People’s Republic of China. As The New York Times re- ported in November, 90 per- cent of the world’s e-ciga- rettes are made there, with most coming from Shen- zhen, a southern city that borders Hong Kong. Several Indiana-area estab- lishments handle ENDS,
though usually they’re most- ly open systems, where a consumer buys the equip- ment and the liquid sepa- rately, not the pods one often finds in convenience stores and other retailers. “We never really sold that stuff,” said Aaron O’Neil, owner of Coil Kingz. “At the time when Juul (pods) first came out, I already knew, ‘this stuff is going to end up causing this industry prob- lems.’” Or, as Zanghi put it, “froma business standpoint it really doesn’t affect us.” However, an FDA ruling for later this yearmay havemore impact. Zanghi refers to PMTA, or Pre-Market Tobac- co Application, due inMay. JUUL’s Crosthwaite said his company would follow the PMTA process. “It originally was supposed to beMay 2022,” Zanghi said. “The FDA got sued by a Maryland tobacco-free or- ganization to speed it up, so
MARY ALTAFFER /Associated Press FLAVORED vaping liquids and devices are on display at the VapeNY.com store in New York.
“JUUL Labs refrained from lobbying the (FDA) on its draft flavor guidance and pledged to support the final policy,” the California-based company said on its website. “We fully understand the ur- gent need to continue reset- ting the vapor category and earn trust as we combat un- derage use and convert adult smokers from combustible cigarettes.” JUUL also said it previously had suspended sales of de- vices with mint, mango, crème, fruit and cucumber flavors in the United States. JUUL’s CEO K.C. Crosthwaite quoted studies released as
cials announced a ban on most flavored e-cigarettes that are popular with under- age teenagers. “Amid the epidemic levels of youth use of e-cigarettes and the popularity of certain products among children, the U.S. Food and Drug Ad- ministration issued a policy prioritizing enforcement against certain unauthorized flavored e-cigarette products that appeal to kids, including fruit and mint flavors,” the FDA stated in a news release. The ban has major excep- tions that benefit vaping manufacturers, retailers and adults who use the devices.
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