SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — A ban on selling flavored vape products could lead to a local store closing its doors, according to court papers in a federal suit brought by Sunshine Vape in the South County Commons in South Kingstown.
“We will continue to do business as long as we can so that adult vapors are not forced back to smoking cigarettes, but in the end, if something doesn’t change, we may have no choice but to close our doors,” said Anthony Bellospirito, Sunshine Vape owner, last week.
The same sentiment came from the owner of North Kingstown’s Smoxy Smoke Shop.
“It’s like my business is gone 90 percent in the last seven days. I was hardly surviving and then all this happened,” said Asmat Sadrana, 47, who has operating the shop for the last two years. It’s his first business — and maybe his last given the turn of difficulties he didn’t seek.
Starting January 1, Rhode Island began prohibiting the sale or possession with intent to sell flavored vape products, a measure included in last year’s budget legislation. Although the ban has faced legal challenges, a judge recently rejected a request for a restraining order that would have delayed its enforcement.
On the same day, a new tax was imposed on all “electronic nicotine delivery systems,” such as vapes. Single-use vapes incur a tax of 50 cents per milliliter of liquid, while refillable vaping products are now taxed at 10% of their wholesale value.
“So 75% of the products we sold to adult vapors are now banned. We already have customers walking out and heading to Connecticut to buy these products,” Bellospirito said, adding and noting that “both my business and the state will lose out on revenue from out-of-state sales where these products are legal to sell.”
