Hearing to decide whether certain vape products can stay on shelves in La.

On Feb 20, 2024

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) – A big decision is expected Wednesday regarding the sale of vapes here in Louisiana.

Smoke shop shelves are full of vape products, most of which are not approved by the FDA – very few e-cigarettes are. Whether they stay on the shelf could be decided Wednesday.

In 2023, a law was passed to triple taxes on vape products in Louisiana. The extra revenue was to be allocated to entities like state police and the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

Part of the law banned the sale of products not approved by the FDA.

“All of the products we have here? Like 90 percent of them are not on there. So due to that, we were supposed to take a bunch of things off the shelves,” Ayub Kahn with Lit Vapes said.

Vape shop owners were supposed to register any approved products with Alcohol and Tobacco Control by November 2023, but that registry never came to fruition after a lawsuit was filed by the Louisiana Convenience Store and Vape Association.

They argue the law is unconstitutional and works against itself – it increased taxes on products, the majority of which it banned.

A judge granted a preliminary injunction in January temporarily halting the law from being enforced, and Wednesday will hold a permanent injunction hearing.

“The people that were buying those stopped buying them, they’re going to Texas, ordering online and stuff like that,” Kahn said.

Store owners have already felt the effects of the law in the short period they weren’t able to sell those vape products.

“We had to let go of some of our employees too because we can’t afford to keep everyone,” Kahn.

“So, we were doing good, at first, and then the work just dropped,” Ameen Ahmed with Viperx Smoke Shop said.

Ahmed said the decision could make or break his business.

“If they ban it, it will affect us in a negative way,” he said. “Vapes are basically like 65 percent of income we get as a vape shop.”

Lawmakers said the act was passed in an effort to prevent children from vaping.

We reached out to the attorney general’s office and the ATC, and neither could comment. The meeting is set for 9:30 Wednesday morning.