BREAKING: Due to the new vaping bill, effective April 26th there will be no more mail order of CBD and Delta-8 THC vape cartridges and conpanies selling online won’t be able to use USPS, UPS or FEDEX for shipping. As a result, the price of Delta-8 THC vape carts is now rising, as the option to get it online is restricted.
While you still can get Delta-8 THC vape carts online, Companies that are planning to continue selling it after the shipping ban goes into effect, must find now alternative delivery methods, as very soon, both the United States Postal Service (USPS), UPS and FEDEX will no support this option. Most companies that we have talked to informed us that starting April they are expiring their B2C vape carts operation and starting selling directly to shops.
As a result we expect to see the price of Delta-8 THC vape carts rising from under $19.95-$29.95/cart (the average price today when buying online) to $39.95-$49.95/cart in April!
*** UPDATE: US Postal Service (USPS) postpones the mail ban on on vape products. As a result, you can still get Delta-8 THC vape cartridges online!
Why Delta-8 THC vape cartridges are getting banned?
Over the last couple of weeks, congress has been going back and forth trying to iron out the framework of a 5,593-page COVID-19 relief bill, the longest bill ever written in U.S. history, and buried deep within its text is a provision that will change the vaping industry as we know it.
Unfortunately, not only nicotine products, but also CBD and Delta-8 THC vape cartridges will be affected from the bill.
The main problem with this COVID “relief” bill, aside from the strange spending points, is that it’s being used as a front to pass legislation that has nothing to do with the virus. At the top of our list is a note on page 5,136 that will ban the United States Postal Service (USPS) from shipping vaping products to adult consumers. Although it was intended to be applied specifically to the tobacco industry, thanks to non-specific and sloppy drafting, the effects will be felt well beyond the confines of nicotine products and both CBD vape carts and Delta-8 THC vape cartridges, will also be banned…
The PACT Act
Under the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act (PACT Act, which is part of the Jenkins Act), the word “cigarette” will be redefined to included all “electronic nicotine delivery system.” But despite the word “nicotine” being used in the bill, the overall definition is so broad that lawmakers have red-flagged ALL vape liquids, including those containing CBD and standalone devices to used for vaping THC and other cannabinoids.
These changes of the bill go into effect into 120 days, at which point all orders of vaping products will need to be shipped via an alternate service, which can be extremely costly and will require the signature or a recipient who is 21 years of age or older.
Additionally, starting 90 days after the enactment of this new law, all internet and mail-order businesses will be required to file length reports every month with state, native tribes, and local governments that will include details about the identity, location, and product orders of all customers who buy vaping items within their jurisdiction.
The title of the original Congress bill containing this text was The Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes to Children Act, however, it is already illegal under federal law to ship vaping and tobacco products to minors, and this new version of the mandate will apply to adults in legal markets as well.
Increased risk for COVID
Logical critics argue that this new law, hidden in the text of a COVID relief bill, may actually increase the risk of one being exposed to and developing the disease, ironically. Take an elderly woman who recently switched from cigarettes to vape products to improve her health. She lives alone in a rural area and has products mailed to her to reduce the risk of catching COVID. The new law would force this hypothetical elderly woman out of her house and into the general public to shop for vape products, which increases her chances of being exposed to, not only COVID-19, but other illnesses as well, such as the flu.
“The sponsors of this legislation repeatedly refused to consider common sense amendments that would have protected youth, while also not needlessly shutting down small businesses,” says Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association. “Thanks to their intransigence, the language included in the omnibus is so sloppily drafted that it will also ban the USPS from shipping CBD liquids intended to be vaporized, as well as devices intended for use with THC or other non-nicotine substances.”
He added: “There are still 36 million American adults smoking combustible cigarettes and over 400,000 will die from smoking-related illnesses this year alone. The American people should start questioning why their government is so intent on making it harder for adults to quit smoking.”
In that vein, illness that are often developed by smokers affect many of the same major organs as COVID-19, such as the lungs, oesophagus, and vascular system. When a smoker becomes infected with COVID-19 or any type of SARS virus, they will likely suffer more than a non-smoker.
“Smokers often have serious heart and lung health problems already. Add COVID-19 to the mix and you are likely to get a very sick patient; they just don’t have the physiological reserves to deal with the massive inflammatory attack brought on by the coronavirus,” said Joseph E. Ebinger, MD, a cardiologist with the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai.
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Final thoughts
There was a lot of back and forth with this bill, but the main source of disagreement was the size of the stimulus checks, but there was no doubt that this vaping law would slip under the radar. Ultimately, the bill passed as was expected. Lawmakers were banking on the fact that most people won’t look it up and read through the absurdly long bill themselves, and they were right.
Now, we have 120 days before the industry as we know it, will change for what seems to be the worst – LEGAL customers will no longer be able to purchase vaping products by mail order thanks to this new bill.
As far as business goes, experts predict that large, better capitalized companies will have no problem paying the costs required to be in compliance with the new regulations, while smaller companies, the mom-and-pop shops, will be the ones to suffer and eventually be pushed out of the market altogether, so if your favorite products are coming from a smaller business, you may want to stock up before they’re forced to shutter the doors.
