MJBizMag March 2021 - 64

Vaporizer Shipping Ban
" The most important concept about
this part of the bill is its intent, and that
is to curb nicotine vaping, not cannabis, "
Dumas de Rauly said.
TIME TO PREPARE
Since the USPS still has to issue new
rules in the following months, Dumas
de Rauly said there is plenty of time for
the government agency to explain how
the ban on shipping products will be
enforced. This window, he added, " also
leaves the door open for our industry to
lobby USPS. "
Kight agreed that businesses should
use the time before the law goes into
effect to prepare for looming changes.
" The first thing (for cannabis business
owners) to do is to become aware
of the law and whether or not it will
affect them. And if they're a (vaporizer
manufacturing) company or retailer of
vaping products, this will affect them, "
he said.
The new regulations update an existing
law governing the taxation of cigarettes
and smokeless tobacco, known as the
Jenkins Act, which has been in place
since 1949.
While the law is directed at nicotine
products, the way the new legislation
is worded casts a wide net. The term
" electronic nicotine delivery system, "
for example, includes any product that
" delivers nicotine, flavor or any other
substance to the user inhaling from the
device. " It's the " any other substance "
part of that sentence that makes cannabis
businesses anxious.
Updates to the act include " CBD
liquids as well as vaping products that
don't contain any nicotine whatsoever, "
said Gregory Conley, president of the
Connecticut-based American Vaping
Association. Figuring out the applicable
local and state taxes in all the places a
company sells products is going to be
challenging, he said, and might require
lawyers and consultants.
" It should be possible to modernize
the tax infrastructure so that you don't
have small businesses suddenly having to
" You need to
be prepared
to raise your
shipping prices
considerably. "
- Gregory Conley
American Vaping Association
get licenses and deal with 20 to 50
different state tax authorities-not
to mention native tribes and local
governments, " he argued.
Conley said his organization lobbied
Congress to find an alternative to
prohibiting shipments of vaping products
through the USPS but was " met with
64 Marijuana Business Magazine | March 2021
New regulations pertaining
to vaporizers are intended to
eliminate underage smoking.
total resistance to that idea. " His group
also argued the definitions in the law
were overly broad.
" The best that we can hope for is
there's going to be an opportunity
to comment with the USPS-as
well as engage with different state
tax authorities-to determine what
compliance is going to be necessary, " he
said. " You need to be prepared to raise
your shipping prices considerably. "
Conley said how big of an impact
the new rules have will depend on
how strictly they are enforced. The
punishment for violating the law can
include three years in prison, but
Conley said a more-likely scenario is
that a company faces steep fines and
gets shut down.
" For nicotine vaping products, which
will get the majority of the enforcement, "
he said, " this is very bad. "
Ivan Moreno is a reporter
for Hemp Industry Daily
and Marijuana Business
Magazine. You can reach
him at ivan.moreno@
hempindustrydaily.com.
MJBizMag March 2021

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