By Lindsay Murray
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Local vape shops are seeing an estimated 5 to 10 percent drop in business since a new Maryland law raised the minimum age to purchase vaping, tobacco and e-cigarette products from 18 to 21, according to store owners who were interviewed over the past two weeks.
The store owners and managers split over whether they agree with the new law, with some supporting the new age limit and others criticizing it as “useless.”
In addition, some of those who were interviewed said that while the new law may hurt in the short run, their businesses will make the necessary adjustments to survive over the long haul. Others said that as business people, they feel the burden of the age limit, but as parents, they understand the need for the new restrictions.
“I’m for the 21-plus because it actually makes sense,” said Kyle Vega, who owns Vapor Villa, which has three stores in the Baltimore area. “It’s a regulation that is trying to solve a problem. I think that a large misconception of the vape industry is that we are 100 percent against regulation, which is not accurate. We are for regulation, but we are for regulation in an appropriate manner.”
The law was passed by the Maryland General Assembly last spring and went into effect on Oct. 1. It prohibits the sale of vaping and e-cigarette products as well as traditional tobacco to anyone under 21 unless they are in the military.
According to the Washington Post, 14 other states and the District of Columbia have all passed restrictions on the sale of nicotine products because of growing concerns about their safety. The article said that there have been 800 cases of vaping related illnesses and 12 reported deaths.
Vega, Robert Hargett, the owner of Jamz Vaporium, and Cynthia Eisenrauch, owner of Beav’s Smoke Shop, all reported about a 10 percent drop in sales since the new law. Cornelius Bryant, the manager of B’more Vapes, said he’s seen a 5 percent decline.
“It is affecting us but it’s not detrimental so far,” said Eisenrauch, who keeps her store open in her son’s honor after he died three years ago. The store has been in business for over 20 years.
Responses were mixed among vape store owners and managers in reaction to the age increase for purchasing vaping products.
“I think as a parent I would go for it,” Eisenrauch said. “Businesswise, you know, it’s taken three age groups away from the retail experience. It’s new to us right now. We’ll reach a balance again. It will just be a new balance.”
“The law being switched to 21 and over, I believe, as long as it is across the board for everything – cigarettes, tobacco, all of that – then great,” added Bryant. “It is trying to limit the use of these products to underage kids.”
Hargett wasn’t so sure.
“It’s a useless law,” Hargett said. “For most establishments other than vape shops it’s not going to work.”
Store owners said the law will only do so much to prevent underage people from getting these products.
“To be honest, I don’t think it’s going to stop kids from getting them,” said Bryant, whose store is on Light Street in Baltimore. “I mean, they will just get someone off the street to go buy it for them. I mean, you can’t stop kids from getting nothing.”
Jimmy Lee, the owner of Discount Cigarettes on Ritchie Highway in Baltimore, said teenagers are still trying to purchase these products even though they know they have to be over 21.
“Even though they know that they still try it, so we have to check the ID’s and stuff very thoroughly,” Lee said.
“It comes down to the responsibility of the store owners,” Bryant added. “The shop owners [have] to cross their t’s and dot their i’s.”
There are approximately 10,000 and 14,000 vape stores in the United States, including some tobacco and smoke shops, according to Gregory Conley, the president of the American Vaping Association. On a national level, Conley said, vape stores are seeing an estimated 20 percent drop because of various laws or health concerns.
“The lung illnesses have hurt vape shops and vaping sales in general,” Conley said. “Nearly every shop in the country reports that their sales are down at least 20 percent and we’ve seen at least a couple hundred stores close between not just sales dips, but also [because] you have multiple state[s]” banning flavors or “the sale of vaping products altogether.”
The American Vaping Association has been in the media frequently within the past two and a half months discussing the vaping related lung illnesses and hospitalizations.
“The evidence continues to indicate that store-bought nicotine vaping products are not responsible for these illnesses, and it’s actually illicit THC products,” Conley said.
“The CDC is becoming increasingly clear with us,” he added, referring to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Previously, they said that 17 percent of patients claimed that they had only vaped nicotine. Then one week later that was down to 13 percent, then last week it was down to 10 percent, and today they are releasing updated numbers that could bring that down to the single digits.”
A big concern among store owners is access to vaping products for those trying to quit smoking cigarettes.
“We’re still not great fans of it because the data shows that there are still 18-, 19-, 20-year-old adults who are smoking cigarettes and they deserve an opportunity at harm reduction,” Conley said.
“These products are meant as a harm-reduction tool for people that are already nicotine dependent, but on a much more harmful option than what electronic cigarettes are,” Vega added. Some people have even been able to use vaping to stop smoking altogether, he said.
“I know a lot of people that smoked a lot of cigarettes,” said Eisenrauch, whose Beav’s Smoke Shop has stores on East Joppa Road and Pulaski Highway. “They went to vaping, and then they even quit vaping. I do know a lot of customers that are smoke free now because of it.”
The store owners said the black market and off-the-street THC cartridges are the primary causes for the lung illnesses that have been leading to hospitalizations.
“I don’t believe they’re vape related,” said Hargett, whose store is located on Smallwood Road in Curtis Bay. “I think it’s a lot more to do with THC than it is vaping. They have to use vaping because that is how people are getting it, so they have to say vaping.”
“I think that people should look into the actual articles that are coming out,” said Devin Twalina, the manager of Cloud Tech Vapes on Annapolis Road in Odenton. “I’m not saying that vaping is safer than any one thing or another, but a lot of the articles and what not are coming out and they are [blaming] the illegal black-market THC carts that are doing most of it.”
In a public statement, the Maryland Department of Health recommends avoiding the use of all e-cigarette, vaping products, as well as off-the-street cannabis and THC vape products. Those could pose the greatest risk, the department said.
“The Maryland Department of Health continues its investigation of severe lung illnesses, of which 23 cases have been identified in Maryland,” said Maureen Regan, the deputy director of integrated media for the Maryland Department of Health. “MDH is working diligently with our federal partners, local health departments and clinicians around the state to investigate these severe lung illnesses.”
The MDH is requiring that any lung injuries suspected of being caused by vaping device to be reported to accurately determine the scope of the outbreak.
Owners and employees said vaping is acting as an umbrella term being used in the media, which is causing the panic around all vaping products.
“The problem is most of the news and the media just went with a narrative of vaping because it looks the same, but it’s not,” Bryant said. “If that’s the case, this shop’s been around probably eight years, we would have all been dead, we would have been dead a long time ago. We wouldn’t have even gotten to this point if vaping is the cause of what’s going on.”
There is also concern of miscommunication with customers being educated on what products are causing health problems.
“This is, of course, just my opinion, but I think they may have caused more harm than anything by not notifying people it’s not these electronic cigarette devices, it’s strictly THC because now you have people that are still using THC because they think it was a different product,” Vega said.
“I’m for regulation, but I’m not for the over reach that I feel the government is doing in the aspect of these flavor bans and stuff like that,” Vega added. “That’s not going to benefit public health. That’s only going to hurt it because it’s going to convince more people to go back to traditional smoking, which we know is killing 480,000 people a year.”
Allison Frey, the director of student services at Towson University Northeastern who specializes in tobacco and other drugs, said many states are also enforcing Tobacco 21.
“Eighteen states have raised the tobacco age to 21, along with Washington, D.C., and at least 500 localities,” Frey said. Happy that this new law has passed, Frey believes that some aspects of the law will be effective.
“I believe the new products on the market are targeting youth and new users,” Frey said. “Although some folks under the age of 21 will simply find ways to get these products, many will adhere to the law and perceive the decision is for the health of the majority and specifically themselves.”