If a teenager walks into a vape shop in Virginia and buys tobacco, there’s no way for authorities to punish the shop that sold it to them. But that could soon change.
Tobacco vape shops have long gone unregulated in the Commonwealth, and it’s unclear just how many tobacco vape shops operate in the state because the business operates in a legal gray area, according to Virginia state Del. Patrick Hope, who represents Arlington County.
“I hear from so many parents whose kids say they know exactly which vape shops to go to to get vape products. So starting with this law, we’re going to make certain that anyone who sells underage consistently will be shut down. They will lose their license,” Hope told News4.
Hope recently got a bill passed through the General Assembly that will add oversight and penalties to vape shops who don’t follow Virginia law.
The bill has two layers of oversight: Vape shops would have to register through Virginia’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority and the Office of the Attorney General would conduct inspections.
“It is illegal in the Commonwealth of Virginia, to sell tobacco products to anybody under the age of 21, but up until the passage of the Vape Enforcement Act, there has been no way to enforce that law,” Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones said.
The new bill will add fines for first and second offenses. Following a third offense, a vape shop could lose its license and be forced to shut down.
The bill would also restrict what products vape shops are allowed to carry.
“There’s an FDA-approved directory that any products that are coming in, being sold in the United States, has to be on this directory. And the Office of the Attorney General, in cooperation with ABC, will go in there and inspect which products are allowed, permitted to be sold in Virginia,” Hope said.
The Vape Enforcement Act passed Virginia’s General Assembly with near unanimous support and is awaiting Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s signature.
from Local – NBC4 Washington https://ift.tt/heaA67Q
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