Tag: vape registry

  • Florida Passes First Disposables Registry

    Florida Passes First Disposables Registry

    Credit: Ajax9

    Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, has signed legislation intended to crack down on the sale of unauthorized vapes that the state deems attractive to children.

    The new law (HB 1007), however, only targets disposable vaping products not authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The rules will be enforced beginning Oct. 1.

    Unlike other state registry lists, Florida is the first state in the nation to include a carve-out for refillable pod systems and open-system vaping products, as well as bottled e-liquids.

    Florida Smoke Free Association president and vape shop owner Nick Orlando was the driving force behind getting the open system exemption.

    In its original form, the bill would have prohibited sales of any vape products that had not yet received FDA approval, according to media reports.

    The law now directs the state’s Department of Legal Affairs to develop and maintain a directory listing all single-use nicotine vapes it deems attractive to minors. The department must make the list publicly available on Jan. 1, 2025, and regularly update it.

    Once a product is added to the list, retailers and wholesalers in Florida have 60 days to sell or remove it from their inventory. Any products left in circulation will be subject to seizure and destruction.

    Beginning March 1, 2025, manufacturers that sell prohibited products in the state will face a $1,000 daily fine for each such product until it’s removed from the market. This stricture will also apply to retailers, wholesalers and distributors that ship products into Florida.

    Any person who sells a nicotine product, including vapes, to someone under 21 for a third or subsequent time will face a third-degree felony charge, punishable by up to $5,000 in fines and five years in prison.

  • Vape Shops Challenge Kentucky Registry Bill

    Vape Shops Challenge Kentucky Registry Bill

    Credit: Adobe

    Several vape businesses, as well as the Kentucky Hemp Association and Kentucky Vaping Retailers Association, are suing the state government over House Bill 11, which will restrict vape sales starting in 2025.

    Among other policy changes, HB 11 will bar businesses from selling vapes that are either not authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or are not currently under review by the regulatory agency.

    During public debates, various arguments for and against HB 11 were made before the Legislature passed the law in late March.

    But the vape shops’ lawsuit, filed last week in Franklin Circuit Court, challenges the legislation on constitutional grounds, according to media reports.

    The lawsuit zeroes in on HB 11’s reliance on defining a “vapor product” in a way that includes devices that feature “vaporized nicotine or other substances.”

    The shops’ petition says this definition encompasses not only nicotine vapes but also hemp-derived vaping products they currently sell. And it says the definition is broad enough to apply to medical cannabis vaping products that will become legal in Kentucky next year.

    The lawsuit argues this makes the new law unconstitutional for two reasons.

    First, it claims HB 11 violates a provision in the Kentucky Constitution that says the Legislature can’t pass a law that relates to more than one subject, and that subject must be specified in its title.

    The plaintiffs say HB 11 is titled an “act relating to nicotine products” but actually affects non-nicotine products as well. They argue this effectively violates the constitutional rule.

    Second, the lawsuit says hemp-derived vapes generally aren’t regulated by the FDA, which makes it impossible for businesses to comply with HB 11’s requirement that they only sell vapes that have received or are seeking FDA approval.

    The suit argues this violates a due process clause in the U.S. Constitution and makes HB 11 an “arbitrary” law, which is prohibited by the Kentucky Constitution.