The ban on mailing vapor products through the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) takes effect Oct 20. The USPS has posted for public inspection its rules for mailing e-cigarettes with the Federal Register.
The rules don’t exempt cannabis vapor products, as many in the industry had hoped. The USPS is leaving it up to the U.S. Congress to carve out an exemption for hemp-based vaping products.
Under the new rules, retail customers will no longer be able to receive vapor products by way of USPS delivery. However, USPS will still mail vapor products under narrowly defined circumstances:
- Noncontiguous states: intrastate shipments within Alaska or Hawaii
- Business/regulatory purposes: shipments transmitted between verified and authorized tobacco industry businesses for business purposes, or between such businesses and federal or state agencies for regulatory purposes
- Certain individuals: lightweight shipments mailed between adult individuals, limited to 10 per 30-day period
- Consumer testing: limited shipments of cigarettes sent by verified and authorized manufacturers to adult smokers for consumer testing purposes
- Public health: limited shipments by federal agencies for public health purposes under similar rules applied to manufacturers conducting consumer testing
The rules were originally set to into effect in March and then April; however, the USPS held back publishing the rule pending review.