White Horse Vapor expanded quickly over the past six years, growing from a single store in North Providence to three in Rhode Island and five in other states.
That trajectory changed suddenly in late September, when Gov. Gina M. Raimondo ordered a temporary ban on flavored vaping products. The ban was justified, the R.I. Department of Health determined a week later, by a national wave of vaping-related illnesses and deaths, and by the skyrocketing use of vaping among teens.
Under state law, vaping products are supposed to be sold only to those 18 and older.
In an emergency regulation issued on Oct. 4, state health director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott banned the manufacture, distribution, sale or possession with intent to distribute or sell any flavored e-cigarette products. The action is in effect for 120 days.
Her decision followed an emerging public-health crisis associated with vaping, according to a lawsuit that seeks to overturn the ban. More than 1,600 vaping-related illnesses and 30 deaths had been reported nationally between August and early October.
Of the injuries, 39% were in people age 25 or younger, the R.I. Department of Health reported.
The state sought the 120-day stay to set in place final regulations on the products.
Of particular concern to state health officials is the dramatic increase in self-reported vaping by teens, said James Rajotte, chief of the R.I. Department of Health’s Center for Health Promotion. One in two teens had tried it, according to the state’s 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. And 10% reported frequent use of vape products. Because the products are not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, there is no standard for ingredients they are inhaling.
‘Cigarettes contain 3,000 chemicals. This product has only four ingredients.’
HASSAN NAMAT, University Mart co-owner
The ban affects an industry in Rhode Island that accounts for $54 million in economic output, employs 460 people and includes 43 retail shops and two manufacturers, according to litigation filed soon after.
The state countered that the risk to public health, including death, outweighed any economic hardships, according to the lawsuit.
At White Horse Vapor, soon after the ban, owner Dino Baccari said he had to close one of his stores, in Warwick. His wholesale business stopped altogether.
His most popular retail product – a disposable e-cigarette – now can be sold in only one flavor, instead of the original four.
“The only one left standing is classic tobacco,” Baccari said. “Which is the least desired of the [offerings].”
Baccari and other vape shop owners, and convenience store operators who also sell vaping products, say their merchandise hasn’t sickened anyone, and instead has helped many smokers quit an addiction that can cause cancer.
“It was the only e-cigarette sold at Twin River Casino [Hotel],” Baccari said of his product. “We were eliminated from the shelves because of the flavor ban and cigarettes still remain in place at the casino.”
On Oct. 23, a lawsuit was filed in R.I. Superior Court by the Vapor Technology Association, a Washington, D.C.-based industry association, as well as a Rhode Island e-cigarette retailer. It sought an emergency injunction that would have lifted the ban until the case could be decided.
The judge said no.
But days later, a determination by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the vaping-related lung illness may be attributed to vitamin E acetate – which is often found in cannabis products – has raised hopes among vaping businesses that the ban may be lifted.
Rajotte said the CDC’s determination is preliminary, and the sample size is not large enough to draw final conclusions.
Hassan Namat, an owner of University Mart in Providence, a convenience store, said the vaping products that he sold – all made by the national brand Juul – amounted to 20% of his total sales before the ban.
Many customers who used to come into his store to purchase vaping products have turned or returned to cigarettes, he said, because they can get the mint flavor in menthol cigarettes.
As a result of increased tobacco sales, he had seen about a 15% drop in sales overall, he said.
Other states, including New York, have recently lifted bans on the flavored vaping products because the connection to the lung illnesses has not been linked to the standard products, he said.
“As far as health goes, cigarettes contain 3,000 chemicals, Namat said. “This product has only four ingredients.”
As far as teen vaping, he said, teens in search of flavored vaping products will now be turning to the black market.
The sale of cigarettes, he said, carries a tax that goes to the state. He thinks that’s why the states are keen to regulate vaping products, which are not taxed in the same way.
“I think people have been dying of cigarettes for a century. We have not banned those. Now something that is a safer alternative, we’re banning,” he said.
Baccari, meanwhile, hopes something good will come of the ban. Regulation, if done sensibly, will help all the legitimate businesses, he says.
“So, if we can get to that sooner rather than later … then there could be a good light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.
Mary MacDonald is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Macdonald@PBN.com.
