The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking action to curb underage use of vape products, but new strategies, regulations, and enforcement efforts have trickled down to a grassroots level as well with states, counties, and cities acting upon their own stances. Public opinion and feedback from the Trump Administration only add fuel to the fire.
In several cases, individual cities have imposed a higher minimum age than their state—presenting even more of a challenge for vape business owners. This is the case in Chicago and New York City, which both require a minimum age of 21 while the state laws stand at 18.
The FDA has issued warning letters, while states and cities have been filing their own lawsuits against websites to which underage sales have been traced. Cities such as San Francisco have banned the sale of e-cigarettes entirely, and others are following suit.
Gray areas are only enhanced by common misconceptions about what qualifies an item as age-restricted. According to the FDA, these are not only products that contain nicotine, such as ejuice, but anything that falls under the umbrella term of Electronic Nicotine Delivery System (ENDS). This includes all vape-related equipment, even if your products are marketed as aromatherapy or dry herb devices, and even if you sell vape juice with no nicotine in it. Certain batteries, atomizers, tanks, flavorings, programmable software and more fall under the ENDS category.
You can find a clear definition and comprehensive list of ENDS products here.
To help our clients navigate the changing regulatory environment of the vape industry, we are continuously updating our age setting features. These settings are crucial to the success of any business selling tobacco or vape-related products online.
1. Our Custom Settings allow you to set and change the minimum age requirements by state, county, city, or zip code. You may also block purchasing entirely from any of these areas. You can set a specific minimum age for or block international orders as well. Custom Settings must be updated by the account holder.
2. The 21+ Preset is our default offering for tobacco and vape businesses. It automatically sets the minimum age to 21 across the United States and for international orders. We recommend enforcing this universal 21+ setting, as regulations are changing so rapidly.
3. Our Tobacco Preset sets the minimum age by state. We update this preset in response to new state laws, and notify customers when it changes. Changes automatically take effect on your website.
4. Our Tobacco Localities Preset sets the minimum age on a more granular level, automatically updating minimum ages according to state, city, and county laws.
All of these options can be found and updated in your account dashboard, under the Websites tab.
At this point, online age verification is no longer a best practices tool—it’s a necessary compliance resource to protect your business from the risks of underage sales, which include lawsuits from governing bodies (Chicago and New York City are prominent examples of cities filing mass lawsuits against vape websites); fines, warning letters, and shutdowns by the FDA; pending regulations from the national government; and individual states, such as Massachusetts, temporarily banning vape products entirely.
We provide features specifically designed for tobacco/vape websites to help you easily update age settings, and urge websites to monitor and adjust their settings to maximize regulatory compliance, avoid consequences of non-compliance, and ultimately help the industry make progress amid legal turmoil.
