JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Before the end of the year, there will be much fewer vape products that can be legally sold in Mississippi. The Governor has already signed House Bill 916 into law.
Vape Plus District Manager Alan Fortin says that while they don’t know all the specifics yet, they do know the change in regulations will have a negative effect on their businesses.
“The reaction really was just like, oh crap! Now what are we going to do?”
The law specifies that the Commissioner of Revenue will make a directory available October 1st and retailers will have 60 days to sell or remove any unauthorized products from the inventory.
“It does hurt over 50%,” he said of the amount of inventory likely to be off the shelves. “Because, I mean, we get three shipments a week just to restock if that tells you anything on how many vapes we’re going through a week.”
The eligible items will follow federal regulations. Right now, the FDA doesn’t “approve” vape products but it has “authorized” products from three manufacturers.
Fortin believes vaping offers people a safer alternative.
“When you take that away, a lot of us are going back to tobacco and cigarettes, things that are hurting us,” noted Fortin. “These aren’t hurting us. These help us stay away from all those harsh chemicals in a cigarette.”
But the President of the Mississippi State Medical Association has a much different take.
“As the Medical Association, we are we’re celebrating these efforts at bringing this in,” said Dr. Jennifer Bryan, MSMA President. “We know that vape-associated lung injury is a real problem and especially with with our youth. But really for everyone.”
Dr. Jennifer Bryan believes the law is a step in the right direction.
“There’s some teeth here to make sure that we are responsibly allowing access where children can’t access it,” Bryan added. “And so I think it just makes it a little harder for a public health problem that really we need a little bit better guardrails on.”
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