Senators Call on Convenience Stores to Remove Unauthorized Vaping Products

Five Senate committee chairs have sent letters to the chief executives of major convenience stores and their wholesalers, calling on them to remove unauthorized vaping products.

The letters were sent by Ron Wyden (D-OR), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). They were sent to retailers including 7-Eleven, Circle K, bp America, Pilot and Kwik Trip, The New York Times reports. They note that unchecked sales of vaping products “pose a tremendous public health threat.”

Under the law, no tobacco product—including electronic nicotine delivery systems such as e-cigarettes or vaping devices, including those containing nicotine not made or derived from tobacco—may legally enter the market for sale without having first received authorization by the Food and Drug Administration that the product is “appropriate for the protection of public health.”

The letters reminded the retailers of their obligations and legal liability under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which prohibits the sale and distribution of unauthorized tobacco products at convenience stores, gas stations and other retail outlets across the nation. Selling unapproved items can result in fines or an order to stop selling any tobacco products.