The eJuices.co team has been there. Many members of the eJuices.co team have used traditional nicotine products in the past. However, many members of the eJuices.co team are now using alternative nicotine products, namely vaping products.
In an alarming reversal of lower rates of consumption of traditional nicotine products, cigarettes have started to make a troubling comeback in 2020. The eJuices.co team investigates why after 20 years of declining sales, traditional nicotine products such as cigarettes have made a comeback. (To see if your state has excise taxes, click here. To see more information on the PACT Act, click here.)
The Cigarette Conundrum
To truly understand the existence of the vaping industry, one must understand the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA). The MSA was a 1998 settlement between two parties: on one side, there were 46 states, five U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia (four other states settled separately). On the other side were the four largest cigarette manufacturers in the United States. The MSA forbade cigarette manufacturers from directly or indirectly targeting youth and heavily restricted advertising, marketing, and promotional programs. In return, cigarette manufacturers were to pay the states billions of dollars in perpetuity ($27.5 billion as of 2018). Cigarette use drastically declined over 20 years, and alternative nicotine products became more and more popular over that same time span, denying the states a significant source of revenue.
Before 1998, it was not uncommon to see cigarettes advertised at venues such as music festivals and even seen on billboards in public. While you can still buy cigarettes at almost any convenience store, the focus is now on vaping products, which are considered tobacco products as of August 8, 2016, when the Deeming Rule was published. As a result, there are also restrictions on marketing vaping products as well. Social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram have limited advertising or marketing vaping products, although many vaping manufacturers and retailers maintain a presence on social media.
As of this writing, there is no federal flavor ban. However, states have taken matters into their own hands, using a complex scheme of taxation on vaping products, flavor bans, and other restrictions that have reduced access to vaping products, not to mention the USPS ban on shipping vaping products. Major national shipping companies also enacted their own bans on vaping products before USPS issued their final ruling on October 21, 2021.
Do Regulators Care About Your Nicotine Use?
Nicotine is an addictive chemical, which you can clearly see in the warning label on top of the eJuices.co website. In fact, the eJuices.co team used their own data to track the average nicotine use of retail customers from 2014 to 2017. Over that time period, average nicotine use fell from 15mg in 2014 to between 3mg-6mg by 2017. In fact, most vapers consume 3mg or 6mg vape juice, while those new to vaping or those who desire an extra kick of nicotine will still consume nicotine salts, which contain anywhere between 20mg to 50mg of nicotine.
The average nicotine content in a single cigarette is around 10mg, which is far more than the 3mg or 6mg of nicotine in a 100ml bottle of vape juice. There is an average of 20 cigarettes in each pack of cigarettes. Assuming one consumes one pack a day, that’s 200mg of nicotine daily. While data on how much vape juice is consumed per day can vary significantly due to personal preferences, the consumption of 200mg of nicotine in a single day is significantly higher than what almost all vapers would consume while vaping on a daily basis.
Additionally, the only FDA-approved vaping product, the Vuse Alto, contains approximately 48mg of nicotine, which is a testament that the FDA has chosen Big Tobacco over smaller vaping manufacturers. Smaller vaping manufacturers want vapers to reduce their nicotine use and add flavors to make the vaping experience enjoyable.
The Biden administration is considering nominating Dr. Robert Califf, a known opponent of the vaping industry, to head the FDA, which may prove troublesome for vaping advocates down the line. Other opponents of the vaping industry include Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, as well as politicians such as Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), not to mention President Joe Biden himself.
Why Cigarette Use Went Up
Vaping360’s Jim McDonald pointed out a variety of factors that led to the decline in vaping (and ultimately, the comeback of cigarettes):
- The spread of vaping misinformation and disinformation during the general post-2017 vaping moral panic
- Fear caused by the 2019 “EVALI” lung injury outbreak, which was misattributed to nicotine vaping
- Statewide flavored vape bans adopted in 2019 and 2020
- Federal passage of the Tobacco 21 law
- FDA guidance banning sales of flavored pod- and cartridge-based vapes
- Many states imposing taxes on e-cigarettes and e-liquid
- Vape business closures caused by sales losses and uncertainty over FDA regulations
This list is definitely not exhaustive either, and there have also been other effects on vapers. Economically, vaping is less expensive than other forms of nicotine consumption. However, as economics also dictates, less supply and more demand leads to price increases across the board for everyone in the vaping industry. Ultimately, due to the increased cost of doing business such as vaping excise taxes (where applicable) and shipping costs, you may have to unfortunately pass that cost onto your customers.
Due to the uncertainty in the vaping industry and logistical challenges such as banning the USPS from shipping vape products, it is possible that vapers could return to consuming traditional nicotine products considering they are readily available at most convenience stores. Here at eJuices.co, we are working hard to ensure that vapers continue to have access to alternative nicotine products such as vape juice.
What This Means For Your Business
The increase in cigarette use should be a major concern for your business. While the eJuices.co team cannot make any claims regarding the health benefits of vaping products, we do encourage you to take action using information you have gathered in this edition and previous editions of State of Vape. Next year is an election year, and we encourage you to continue to write to your elected officials to educate and encourage them not to place even more restrictions on the vaping industry, which has inadvertently led to a rise in the consumption of traditional nicotine products.
That’s all for this edition of the State of Vape. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact your eJuices.co account manager or sales representative. We’re looking forward to speaking with you and helping your business succeed.