Vape shops breathe easy
New FDA ban on some flavored products has had little impact on the business, manufacturers
New FDA ban on some flavored products has had little impact on manufacturers, business.
Ty Marceaux took a puff from his electronic cigarette and pointed to a small corner of his Heights vape shop once teeming with vape cartridges offering sweet flavors such as mango, grape and pineapple. Earlier this month, the manager of the shop, Rock N’ Roll It, was forced to stop selling fruitand candy-flavored nicotine cartridges under new Food and Drug Administration regulations aimed at curbing the rise of underaged vaping.
The federal crackdown, however, hasn’t stopped business. The vape shop was stocked with refillable vaping devices, bottles of fruitflavored vape juice and single-use, disposable ecigarettes with candy flavors
— products not included in the FDA ban.
“I’m surprised how little it affected us,” Marceaux said. “A total ban would have screwed us.”
Vape shops and vape juice manufacturers across the
Houston area breathed a sigh of relief after federal authorities announced regulations earlier this year that narrowly targeted some e-cigarettes while leaving others alone. The limited ban was hailed as a fair compromise by the vaping industry, while some health officials argued it will do little to stop the so-called “epidemic” of teenage vaping.
Steven Kelder, a professor at the UTHealth School of Public Health, called the FDA ban “a major step forward.” The epidemiologist has developed a vaping prevention called “Catch My Breath,” which is taught to some 500,000 schoolchildren nationwide.
“Some people in the public health community say it doesn’t go far enough,” he said. “But I’ll take a win when I see one.”
Growing share
Vaping products are projected to constitute about 30 percent of nicotine sales by 2025, up from less than 10 percent in 2019. Sales of e-cigarettes — battery-powered devices that heat and
vaporize liquid nicotine into an aerosol mist that can be inhaled, or “vaped — are expected to top $10 billion this year, according to Wells Fargo Securities.
Meanwhile, e-cigarette use is soaring among teenagers, threatening decades of anti-smoking campaigns that have changed social norms and perceptions around smoking tobacco.
On HoustonChronicle.com: Vaping epidemic to get more scrutiny in the Texas Senate
More than 5 million U.S. youth, including 1 in 4 high school students and 1 in 10 middle school students, reported using e-cigarettes last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The U.S. Surgeon General in 2018 called underage vaping an “epidemic.”
Cartridge-based e-cigarettes, such as Juul, have become popular with teenagers in large part because of their cheaper price and smaller, more concealable size. Juul e-cigarettes, which look like an USB flash drive, start from around $35 for a device and $15 for a pack of four replacement cartridges.
Juul devices, however, contain a high level of nicotine, a highly addictive substance that can disrupt sleep patterns, affect moods and cause birth defects among pregnant smokers. A single Juul pod contains as much nicotine as a pack of 20 regular cigarettes, according to the CDC.
“Over the last 40 years, teen smoking has been reduced to a fairly low level,” Kelder said. “With e-cigarettes, it’s rebounded. We’re re-normalizing the idea of putting something in your mouth and breathing it in.”
Regulation increases
Federal, state and local governments in recent years have considered various measures to curb underage vaping.
The FDA required childproof caps on vape liquid bottles and mandated a prominent nicotine warning on vape products. Last year, it prohibited the sale of e-cigarettes to teenagers, raising the age limit to 21 from 18, and required strict age verification for online sales. A spate of lung injuries and deaths associated with vaping last year raised the specter of more regulation. .
States, such as Massachusetts and New Jersey, as well as cites such as New York and San Francisco, outlawed flavored vaping products. President Donald Trump in September proposed a ban on all flavored vaping products.
The industry responded by warning that a total ban would shutter vape shops and cost thousands of jobs.
Mom-and-pop vape shops were the fastest-growing segment of the struggling retail industry over the past decade, according to Labor Department data. About 85 percent of vape shops have fewer than 10 employees, according to the American Vaping Association.
After the pushback from the industry, the Trump administration walked back its original plan, rolling out a limited ban on flavored e-cigarette cartridges that took effect Feb. 6. The compromise targets e-cigarettes popular among teenagers, but still gives adult vapers access to flavors they want to enjoy. Under the new regulations, menthol and tobacco-flavored vape cartridges are still allowed.
“We were worried it was going to be a big overreaction,” Andrew Gray, a sales associate at The Vapor Lair in Houston. “I hope with this compromise we can move past the bad news.”
Dodging a bullet
Similar to vape shop owners, vape juice manufacturers were worried about the prospect of a full vaping ban.
Vapewell Supply in northwest Houston manufactures an average of 5,000 bottles of vape juice each month with flavors such as Camarosa, a strawberry with a hint of coconut, and Double Barrel Oak, a tobacco with caramel, vanilla and hazelnut. A 60 milliliter bottle costs $19.99 and can last a couple of weeks, depending on usage.
Co-owners Arman Espinosa, Clair McPherson and Alejandro Almeida have invested $100,000 into their business since launching it in 2015. The manufacturer has annual revenue of between $200,000 and $400,000 per year.
A full vaping ban would have been another hit to Vapewell’s U.S. sales, which declined by 60 percent last year amid the vaping-related illnesses and deaths. The company survived by selling its products overseas, primarily in Japan and the Middle East.
“It was like, ‘Oh my god, we might not have a business in a month,’” McPherson said.
Vapewell’s owners said they welcome regulation that ensures their products don’t get into the hands of teenagers. The company eschews bright colors and candy flavors favored by teenagers The the average Vapewell customer is a 40-year-old looking to switch from smoking regular cigarettes.
“We want to make vaping safe and keep it around,” Espinosa said. “We’re not drug dealers. We’re just trying to help people quit smoking.”
Expanded offerings
Back at Rock N’ Roll It, Marceaux was busy helping customers choose vaping devices. The Houston vape chain, which has more than 30 locations in Texas and Florida, began preparing for the regulations well before this month.
The retailer stopped carrying Juul products a year ago, stocked up on vaping products that use refilliable tanks, and slowed and eventually halted its orders of pre-filled cartridges. The vape shop does not allow minors in the store, carding customers to ensure they are 21 or older.
The company also began diversifying its merchandise to sell glass pipes, hookahs and CBD products.
“If one’s regulated, we have other options,” Marceaux said.
Since the flavor ban was announced earlier this year, Marceaux said most e-cigarette users have shifted to mint-flavored cartridges or disposable e-cigarettes, such as Puff Bars, which are single-use and do not take cartridges.
Ruben Salazar, 32, recently stopped by Rock N’ Roll It to pick up some vape device parts. The Houston truck driver said he smoked two cigarette packs a day until he switched to vaping 8 years ago.
“It’s a habit,” he said. “It keeps my cravings away.”
Salazar said he found the flavored cartridge ban “strange,” but said it doesn’t affect him because he uses tank-style ecigarettes. Ultimately, consumers must do their own research into the products they consume, he said.
“There’s a whole wall of stuff over there,” Salazar said, pointing to a vending machine with soft drinks, “That can kill you, too.”
“We want to make vaping safe and keep it around. We’re not drug dealers. We’re just trying to help people quit smoking.” Arman Espinosa, co-owner of Vapewell Supply in northwest Houston