PACT ACT to Ban Vape Mail

UPDATE 3/21/21: 

We will cease shipping to all states except Minnesota and Wisconsin starting March 26th. If you reside in a state other than MN or WI, your last chance to submit an online order will be March 25th.

If you reside in Minnesota or Wisconsin, we can continue to ship to you for approximately 1 month. We will not know the exact date until USPS posts their final language after the public comment period has ended. You must be present for the delivery as the deliveries will now require adult signature. The service of USPS adult signature will tack an additional fee of approximately $17 onto your order.

We’re working hard to find alternative options for shipping which will be compliant with this new law, but as it stands now, it seems that the PACT act will make it impossible for us to continue to ship vapor products to individuals.

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Former President Trump signed the 2021 Appropriations bill into law on Dec 27, 2020. Included in that 5,000+ page bill was language that adds “electronic nicotine delivery systems” (or “ENDS”) to shipping regulations enacted by The Jenkins Act and The Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act (PACT Act). The law will take effect March 27th, 2021. 

The practical effect of the new law is a ban on shipping vapor products through the USPS.  We will no longer be able to ship you vapor eliquid, vapable CBD, or related vapor hardware. Fedex, UPS and DHL have also stated they will not ship vapor products to consumers. 

Complicating matters, even if small, independent vapor retailers like us find carriers willing to ship our products to consumers, the compliance issues are likely beyond our means. For example, the law requires us to be compliant with state, local, and tribal tax filing laws that are inconsistent across the country and subject to change on an unpredictable basis. Currently, the human and technological resources required to fulfill these requirements are only affordable by the largest companies, but we are eagerly working towards a complaince solution.

This is a hard hit to our business, the entire vapor industry, and public health. We urge you not to go back to smoking. Patronize your local brick and mortar vape shops and also ask those shops to reach out to Smokeless Distro at Chris@SmokelessDistro.com or 1-800-897-4085 if they do not currently carry our products. We will still be able to ship business to business, so asking your local retail chains to carry our products could be one way to have continued access to them.

On Feb. 19, USPS published its proposed rule, titled “Treatment of E-Cigarettes in the Mail,” in the Federal Register, and provided a 31-day window for public comment (which ends March 22). The final rule will take effect soon after publication—on March 27, according to Tobacco Reporter. That is the same date the PACT Act rules will become law.

Online retailers will be required to:

• Verify age of customers using a commercially available database
• Use private shipping services that collect an adult signature at the point of delivery
• Register with the ATF and the U.S. Attorney General
• Register with state and local tax administrators in all states and localities where business is done
• Collect and pay all applicable local and state taxes, and affix any required tax stamps to the products sold
• Each month, a list of all transactions must be sent to each state’s tax administrator that includes the names and addresses of each customer sold to, the quantities and type of each product sold, and the name, address, and phone number of the person delivering the shipment to the recipient

For those wishing to comment on the regulations, there are limited demands to be made of the Postal Service. The USPS is being ordered by Congress to impose the shipping ban; it wasn’t the agency’s idea, and the Postal Service has no leeway to do anything else. That said, CASAA has issued a call to action with suggested talking points for vapers to use in their comments to both the USPS and members of Congress. It’s important that the Postal Service and—especially—Congress hear how this law will hurt ordinary consumers, and that they hear from a lot of us.

Thank you for your business and for your understanding. We are encouraging everyone to sign up for our newsletter or refer to this blog for updates on any future news or changes to our shipping options. 

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