Yeti Vape | Chautauqua County & Erie County, NY and Erie, PA

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A message from Yeti Vape regarding online sales:

Millions of Americans have been affected by the Covid-19 Pandemic. Recently the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act was passed, to give much needed relief to families that this pandemic has impacted. Buried deep within the text of the bill are provisions which affect the vapor industry as well.

Title VI of the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which appears on page 5,136 of the 5,593-page bill, is called the Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes to Children Act. The bill was introduced last April by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D–Calif.), joined by seven original cosponsors: six Democrats plus Sen. John Cornyn (R–Texas). It includes two changes aimed at complicating and obstructing online sales of vapes & e-liquid. 1

The legislation redefines on a national level, all vapor products (including hardware), as cigarettes.

The Feinstein bill further expands the Jenkins Act, redefining cigarette to include "electronic nicotine delivery systems," which are not cigarettes. It also counterintuitively defines electronic nicotine delivery system to include products that do not deliver nicotine: "any electronic device that, through an aerosolized solution, delivers nicotine, flavor, or any other substance to the user inhaling from the device" (emphasis added). That category includes e-cigarettes, e-hookahs, e-cigars, electronic pipes, vape pens, and refillable vaporizers, plus "any component, liquid, part, or accessory" used with those devices, whether shipped together with them or sold separately.

In other words, every product related to vaping, whether of nicotine, THC, CBD, lavender, or anything else, will now be subject to the Jenkins Act's burdensome requirements. According to Feinstein, a bottle of e-liquid is a cigarette; so is a bottle of herbal essential oil if you plan to vape it. A coil or pod cartridge for a nicotine vaporizer is now also a cigarette; so is a vaporizer designed for THC or CBD oil. 2

Furthermore, this also modified the PACT Act which now defines cigarettes to include vapor products (Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems or ENDS) and thus subjects online retailers to an exhaustive reporting process. The USPS, FedEx, and UPS are also banning shipment of vapor products in all instances direct to customers.

….. the amended PACT Act now prohibits the use of the USPS to deliver “ENDS” directly to consumers. In terms of the mail ban’s effective date, the Act states that the prohibition on the mailing of cigarettes shall apply to ENDS on and after the date on which the Postal Service promulgates regulations clarifying the applicability of the mail ban on ENDS, which it is required to do within 120 days of the enactment (i.e., by April 27, 2021). The Postal Service has not yet published any clarifying regulations in this regard, but companies should anticipate the mail ban going into effect on or about April 27, 2021. 3

Many states are imposing flavor bans and other restrictions for vapor products within their borders. Due to these developments, effective immediately, Yeti Vape has made the tough decision to discontinue online sales, unfortunately we will not be the only company taking this direction.

Yeti Vape has 7 brick and mortar locations in the states of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. We are currently expanding our product lines and are now offering alternative products. Our stores will remain open, as the changes being made are specifically for online sales only. If you are local to or visiting the area, we are extending an invitation to stop in, and explore all Yeti Vape has to offer.

We also sadly realize that this will prevent thousands of our loyal customers, who have supported Yeti Vape over the years, the ability to purchase our products. None-the-less, it was you who helped grow our business to where it is today, and for that we will always be grateful!

Thank you again for all YOU have done for us!

Sincerely,
The Yeti

References:

1, 2: https://reason.com/2020/12/23/to-protect-children-from-e-cigarettes-congress-imposes-new-restrictions-on-everything-related-to-vaping-of-any-kind/

3: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/congress-amends-pact-act-to-apply-to-all-vaping-products-placing-huge-burden-small