Hearing on California Internet Sales Restrictions Postponed

A hearing on California’s AB 1500, which would place restrictions on the sale of e-cigarette products via the Internet, has been postponed until May 14.

 “While CASAA supports bans on sales to minors, we oppose any restrictions that impose unnecessary burdens on adult consumers. Requiring age verification before delivery (with third-party database verification), and then mandating a delivery service with age-verified signature required–and requiring it each and every time an order is delivered to a particular address–imposes an unnecessary burden on adult consumers, especially those who are not able to be present at the time of delivery.”

–CASAA

AB 1500 would amend California’s Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement (STAKE) act, and make it a crime to deliver an electronic cigarette without first obtaining the full name, birth date and residential address of the person to whom it will be delivered, and then validating the information “through the use of a commercially available database or aggregate of databases, consisting primarily of data from government sources.” Violations of the law would carry fines up to $1,000 per violation.

Previous version of the legislation would have banned the sale of electronic cigarettes unless the seller had obtained a tobacco license, but advocacy group CASAA credits the efforts of vapers for getting the bill amended to its current version. However, they say, the requirement to provide vendors with personal information every time they make a purchase would still place an undue burden on consumers, as well as increase the cost of the devices.

CASAA: Call to Action! California Ban on Internet Sales (AB 1500) and Ban on E-Cigarette Usage (SB 648).

Hearing on California Internet Sales Restrictions Postponed

Rally to Fight L.A. E-Cig Ban

A recently updated Call to Action on CASAA’s website is urging vapers to help fight the recently-passed ordinance that bans vaping in public areas of Los Angeles.

In addition to contacting Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to voice opposition to the new ordinance, vapers are also encouraged to attend a “Save Vape LA” rally to be held Saturday, March 8 in Pershing Square.

Keynote speakers at the rally will include Herbert Gilbert, inventor of the first electronic cigarette in 1963, as well as Empire Brands electronic cigarette CEO John Cameron, and Smoke Free Alternatives Trade Association President Phillip Daman.

A media wall will also be constructed to allow attendees to provide testimony of how vaping has changed their lives.

More details are available from CASAA at the link below.

IMPORTANT Updated Call to Action for Los Angeles! Attend Rally Saturday, March 8th and Contact Mayor to Voice Your Opposition | CASAA.

Rally to Fight L.A. E-Cig Ban

Study Finds Minimal Health Risks with E-Cigs

Study Finds Minimal Health Risks with E-Cigs

Internet Sales Ban Clarified, CASAA to Meet with FDA

Internet Sales Ban Clarified, CASAA to Meet with FDA

Bloomberg View Does Hack Job on E-Cigs

Bloomberg View Does Hack Job on E-Cigs

CASAA Spreads the Word: Study Shows E-Cigs Are Safer

CASAA Spreads the Word: Study Shows E-Cigs Are Safer

South Carolina to Tax E-Liquid

South Carolina to Tax E-Liquid

ECF"s E-Cigarette Battle Map

ECF has posted a great map showing the legal status of e-cigarettes across the U.S., using Google Maps. It displays which states have passed or defeated anti-vaping legislation, and which are currently under attack.

Legal status of electronic cigarettes in the USA – Map – ECF InfoZone.

ECF"s E-Cigarette Battle Map

Oklahoma Bill Back from the Dead

Oklahoma State Capitol

Some people just don’t know when to quit.  After Oklahoma’s SB802, about which we previously reported, was defeated by the state’s House Health Committee, it’s back only a few days later.  Apparently not willing to let his tobacco-company-backed bill go down easy, Oklahoma Senator Rob Johnson (R) has attached it as an amendment to HB2097, and unrelated bill which would allow the release certain private records in an emergency.

Hundreds showed up to protest the bill in its original incarnation, which was almost identical the the version resubmitted today.  It would raise taxes on e-cigarette products, require a very expensive tobacco seller’s license to sell e-cigarette supplies, and would essentially criminalize many online e-cigarette sales, according to CASAA.

The bill is backed by tobacco companies like R.J. Reynolds, presumably because it would almost certainly cripple to operations of their smaller competition by requiring a costly tobacco seller’s license, which in turn requires a hefty bond too expensive for many smaller shops to afford.  Elimination of Internet sales would most likely not affect  tobacco companies to any great degree, as they have long-standing relationships with vendors, ensuring they are given shelf space in local shops.

This time there won’t be a public hearing, since Senator Johnson has chosen to inject this this amendment into HB2097 mid-stream. CASAA is urging people to act quickly to stop this bill, for the second time this month.  More details on this bill, and what you can do to stop it, are available on CASAA’s website.

Oklahoma Bill Back from the Dead