Vape shops fear effects of excessive regulation

Vapor variety: From left, Zack Sylvia of Dartmouth and Joao Cavalcanti of Cape Cod are seen with Dino Baccari, owner of White Horse Vapor in North Providence. Sylvia and Cavalcanti travel to get their vaping supplies from Baccari because of the variety of flavors he carries. / PBN PHOTO/ MICHAEL SALERNO
Vapor variety: From left, Zack Sylvia of Dartmouth and Joao Cavalcanti of Cape Cod are seen with Dino Baccari, owner of White Horse Vapor in North Providence. Sylvia and Cavalcanti travel to get their vaping supplies from Baccari because of the variety of flavors he carries. / PBN PHOTO/ MICHAEL SALERNO

Darin Tripoli, owner of Sunshine Vape, has a dim view of the purpose of federal regulation of electronic cigarettes.

The new rules, announced in early May, will require e-cigarette-related businesses to obtain U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for products sold to consumers.

Tripoli anticipated the FDA action, but said the rules go beyond public health or safety, and are intended to shut down operators.

“We took 2 percent of Big Tobacco’s revenues last year,” he said, of the e-cigarette industry. “Two percent of a billion dollars is a lot of money.”

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The regulations, which take effect Aug. 8, also ban the sale of e-cigarettes to anyone under age 18, and for adult customers, require photo identification for purchases.

Advocates, including health officials, say the federal move is overdue. Growing in popularity, electronic cigarettes have been sold for several years, through convenience stores and independent businesses, without verified information of ingredients or a manufacturing process.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 3.7 percent of all adults in the U.S. used e-cigarettes regularly in 2014. That included 15.9 percent of cigarette smokers and 22 percent of former smokers.

Although they vary in design, the devices use a battery to heat and vaporize a liquid, which typically contains flavoring and nicotine.

In Rhode Island, the e-cigarette industry this year narrowly avoided additional regulation.

The state already had restricted the sale of vaping products to those 18 and older, and required tobacco retailers who sell the devices and products to get a state health license. The House approved a measure that would have required child-resistant packaging for vaping liquids, and banned sale of e-cigarettes on school property, but it was not approved in the Senate.

A bill introduced by Rep. Teresa A. Tanzi, D-Narragansett, would have prohibited vaping e-cigarettes indoors, including in workplaces. The measure was approved by the House, but failed in the Senate.

Legitimate concern over what the vape cloud contains, for users as well as people around them, is driving the push for more regulations, Tanzi said. “A huge concern is the unknown,” she said. “It contains numerous chemicals and the health effects of these chemicals are not known.”

The state has made significant inroads in combatting tobacco use among youth, she said, but in recent years, anonymous health surveys indicate they are vaping more regularly. The number who say that has doubled every year, she said.

“I see it from a public health perspective,” Tanzi said.

Several vape shop owners said they felt the purpose of the increased regulation was to drive small shops out of business. The largest e-cigarette brands are owned by traditional tobacco companies, which can easily afford the federal regulatory burden, say the owners of the smaller shops.

Sunshine Vape has two locations in Rhode Island, including Warwick and South Kingstown. Tripoli said he’s been told the federal regulation means a review of the 200 to 300 individual flavors he sells, multiplied by several nicotine strengths and liquid sizes. In all, Tripoli said he may have to seek 500 hundred licenses.

Dino Baccari, owner of White Horse Vapor, established in North Providence, said he typically has 50 flavors at his three R.I. locations. The variety is critical because it helps smokers make the transition from cigarettes to vaping, he said.

“One of the most helpful ways to help a smoker quit smoking is the ability to change out flavors,” he said.

The flavors range from spicy to sweet and include, at his shops, options such as blueberry, guava and clutch, a toffee flavor.

“The more they regulate it, the less of a market there is,” Tripoli said. “And the market that exists will be going to bigger tobacco companies. They’ll be buying these products from gas stations and bodegas and not vape shops.”

Baccari doesn’t mind if a business decides to ban indoor vaping, but said it should be a business choice. To force vapers outside, with cigarette smokers, will be to invite old habits. Like many of his customers, Baccari said he once was a smoker, and he quit by switching to e-cigarettes.

“What we’re really trying to protect here, is the vaper who has found an alternative to smoking cigarettes,” Baccari said. “When you’ve made that step to quit smoking, and you tell a vaper, go outside, hang out with smokers, when you’ve already made a decision to improve yourself, you’re putting them back in the firing line with cigarettes.” •

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