Vaping industry sees ‘D-Day’ with bans for minors, FDA regulations

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The introduction of electronic cigarettes created budding opportunities for business, while unleashing territory uncharted for years by the federal government. But on Monday, the outlook for increased industry profits dimmed with the first day of regulations.

“All the vapers are calling it ‘August 8th, D-Day,'” said Phil Burkard, of Florida Cloud Chasers Vape Shop and Lounge in Fort Myers.

The new rules introduce major changes to the purchase and sale of electronic cigarettes, transforming developed touchstones in vaping. Everything from the advertising, packaging, labeling, sale and manufacturing of e-cigs will undergo considerable modifications.

Even the demographics of vapers will likely change. That’s because new regulations from the Food and Drug Administration prohibit the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors.

Now anyone under the age of 27 will be asked to show photo ID.

Before Monday, teenagers could legally purchase the nicotine products in-store. While some vaping stores refused to sell to children, more than 3 million middle and high school students used e-cigs in 2015, according to the Center for Disease Control. The popularity of e-cigs among youth alarmed state health experts who were fearful of the obliteration of efforts to end nicotine addiction.

Vaping devices contains a liquid version of nicotine, the same substance found in tobacco, that is heated into a gas then inhaled. Electronic cigarettes, vaporizers, vape pens, hookah pens, and e-pipes all face regulation from the FDA.

One major concern was that a young generation would become addicted to nicotine through these devices. In 2013, Florida had one of the lowest smoking rates among high school students: Only 8.6 percent smoked traditional cigarettes, according the state-funded Tobacco Free Florida program. But statistics from the CDC show that the national rate of high school vapers was almost double Florida’s rate at 16 percent.

Starting Monday, the addictive nature of vaping will gain visibility in the vaping industry. According to the FDA:

“The product packages and advertisements of all newly-regulated covered tobacco products must bear the following warning statement:

“‘WARNING: This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.'”

The regulated messaging on e-cigs falls short of the intimidating labels on traditional cigarettes. But Burkard said vaping devices are being forced to adhere to similar regulation.

“Vaping and smoking in my eyes cannot be compared,” he said. “And that’s what’s happening right now and in my eyes it’s not right.”

There are differences between vaping and smoking. Though vaping visually mimics smoking, there is no smoke involved in the former. And while traditional smoking is on the decline, vaping has grown wildly popular with shops popping up all over the country. There are more than 100 vape or vape-related shops in Southwest Florida.

But the FDA’s new regulations will create immediate changes to users’ experience. For example, walk into a vape store and you can generally expect a good salesperson to offer you a free sample. Well, not anymore. The FDA is banning that practice.

Some business owners say it was fundamental to their success with first-time users, but Burkard said vape shops are accommodating by incorporating the price of samples into the cost of the often flavored e-cig liquids.

“Would you buy a car without test driving it?” Burkard said. “You have to pay for samples now. So a lot of the shops are combining the sample price with the bottle of juice.”

Vapers also are prohibited from bringing in their broken devices for repair. Burkard said that will alter the way he interacted with customers and their products.

“Let’s say you have a Vape device, this is yours, you bring it in and say ‘Hey I’d like to get my coils worked on’. I can’t take your vape device in my hand anymore. I can’t even touch the top cap, because that is ‘modifying’ in the regulation’s eyes,” he said.

Burkard expects long-term effects to the vaping industry, too, now that products made after February 2007 require FDA approval: higher prices and less shops.

“The smaller shops — they’re all gonna be closed. Small business owners with vape shops are gonna be hurting,” he said. “Everyone’s kind of in a panic right now.”