Big Tobacco vs. The Rest of Us

As e-cigarettes have become more and more popular — and, as a result, more profitable — it’s not surprising that the giants of the tobacco industry have started angling for their piece of the pie. We’ve already seen buy-outs of e-cigarette companies, like Lorrilard’s purchase of Blu, as Big Tobacco scrambles to find a place in this rapidly growing market.

Unfortunately, the tobacco industry’s efforts to earn their place in the e-cigarette market don’t stop at trying to compete at a market level. We’re increasingly seeing efforts from companies like R.J. Reynolds to crush their competition by supporting legislation designed to cripple their competitors.  One example is their backing of Oklahoma’s SB802, which we’ve talked about here before. By making internet sales illegal and requiring that vendors buy only from companies with an expensive tobacco seller’s license, R.J. Reynolds is clearly hoping to use their established relationships with suppliers and stores to get a huge leg up on their smaller-scale competition.

R.J. Reynolds obviously already has tobacco-licensed middlemen in place to sell their new e-cigarette product, named Vuse, at brick-and-mortar stores all over Oklahoma.  The tobacco license and online sales restrictions of the bill won’t affect them at all, but it could be crippling for smaller vendors, who often rely on online sales and direct relationships with manufacturers who will not have the Oklahoma license, to stay afloat.

“Why are they trying to turn thousands of e-cigarette consumers in their state into criminals?” – Bill Godshall, Smokeless Pennsylvania

The restriction on online sales is perhaps the most troubling part of the law, as it would make it illegal to buy e-cigarettes online.  By many estimates, that is how over half of all purchases are currently done. While this may not bother a company like R.J. Reynolds with the money and influence to be able to get product onto physical store shelves, it’s certainly a very troubling prospect for the rest of us.

Big tobacco stubs out e-cigarette competitors | The Daily Caller

Big Tobacco vs. The Rest of Us