Mail Ban Forces Vape Shops Out of Business
The Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes to Children (PACT) Act has forced many companies to discontinue U.S. online sales and even cease operations altogether. Among the most recent vape shops to announce the end of their business are Elevated Vaping in Houston, Texas, and the Vape Spot in Los Angeles, California.
Earlier, Securience, parent to DuraSmoke, announced a merger with VapinDirect to stay in business. Logic will end all online sales on March 16. White Cloud Electronic Cigarettes said it would end all online U.S. sales on March 26. Vapewild and Vistavape, too, announced that they would be closing shop.
Even companies overseas reported supply chain disruptions as a result of the U.S. mail ban.
“If the increase in shipping costs wasn’t enough, the bill also imposes huge paperwork burdens on small retailers and backs it up with threats of imprisonment for even innocent mistakes,” said Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association. “This is not a law designed to regulate the mail-order sale of vaping products to adults; it’s an attempt to eliminate it.”
The bill also imposes huge paperwork burdens on small retailers and backs it up with threats of imprisonment for even innocent mistakes.
Effective March 28, 2021, recipients of all vaping products purchased online will be required by law to present ID and sign for their delivery. The U.S. Postal Service ban on mailing vaping products will go into effect on April 27, 2021. After this date, customers will no longer be able to receive vaping products by way of USPS delivery.
Many private shipping companies—which often rely on the USPS for so-called last-mile deliveries—will no longer deliver vapor products. “Effective April 5, 2021, UPS will not transport vaping products to, from or within the United States due to the increased complexity to ship those products,” said UPS spokesperson Matthew O’Connor.
FedEx stopped accepting vapor products for delivery on March 1, 2021. DHL had already previously banned all shipments of nicotine-containing products and has now also ended all cannabis vapor product shipments.
Writing in the National Review, Michelle Minton, a senior fellow specializing in consumer policy for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, recently cautioned that the USPS mail ban would boost sales of traditional cigarettes.