House Bill 1069, which will take illegal vaping products shipped in via UPS from China off of store shelves and out of kids hands continues it’s path through the South Dakota legislature after it sailed through the House of Representatives on a 57-11 vote.
However, the word from the 3rd & 4th floors is that Big Vape has an army of lobbyists – nearly a dozen at last count – preparing to pounce on State Senators to try to stop the measure, which would limit the sale of vaping products in South Dakota to only those that have received FDA approval (or at the least, they have applied for it).
At this writing, there are literally 1000-1500 products that meet (at the least) the applied for FDA approval test. But the Big Vape interests are fighting to keep products that have NOT gone through any clearance, review or application to actually be sold in the United States to remain on their shelves. They want to keep selling the things they have just bought off the internet, and they want State Government to ignore it.
The US Government’s Food and Drug Administration has not sat still on these products with unregulated chemicals that have not been authorized for sale, such as this 2022 warning letter from the FDA to one organization doing business, calling itself Fifty Bar:
FDA has determined that you manufacture and offer for sale or distribution to customers in the United States ENDS products that lack a marketing authorization order, including: Fifty Bar 6500 Puff Rechargeable Disposable Mint, Fifty Bar 6500 Puff Rechargeable Disposable Vanilla Custard, and Fifty Bar 6500 Puff Rechargeable Disposable Pacific Cooler.
The tobacco products listed above are new tobacco products because they were not commercially marketed in the United States as of February 15, 2007. These products do not have FDA marketing authorization orders in effect under section 910(c)(1)(A)(i) of the FD&C Act and are not otherwise exempt from the marketing authorization requirement. Therefore, these products are adulterated under section 902(6)(A) of the FD&C Act (21 U.S.C. § 387b(6)(A)).
and..
FDA has determined that your firm markets new tobacco products in the United States that lack premarket authorization. All new tobacco products on the market without the statutorily required premarket authorization are marketed unlawfully and are subject to enforcement action at FDA’s discretion.
and..
Please note that tobacco products offered for import into the United States that appear to be adulterated and/or misbranded may be detained or refused admission.
Read that letter from the Food & Drug Administration here.
Fifty Bar – with principal Brady Bates as named on the letter – was warned last September (9/12/24) that they are selling products considered adulterated by the FDA. So, what action do they take to remedy this?
In South Dakota, they hired a lobbyist to try to stop legislation to take what the FDA considers adulterated products off store shelves:
I don’t think I’ve seen that one before. Where someone is told that their product is marketed unlawfully, subject to enforcement action, and considered adulterated at the federal level. So, they hire a lobbyist to keep these products on the shelves. Which must be big business, because why else would a Texas-based vape company hire a South Dakota lobbyist right before the committee meeting?
Also sending a lobbyist to fight the measure in committee designed to regulate the currently unregulated vaping products shipped in from China was a lobbyist representing the Washington DC based Vapor Technology Association. Why do we care about them?
- Because the VTA is the only U.S. based “International Partner” of The Electronic Cigarette Professional Committee of China Electronics Chamber of Commerce (ECCC), the Chinese-government-controlled vapor industry association. You can see them featuring the VTA’s activities here, where the Chinese vaping group praises them on their work to “escort the standardized and prosperous development of the global e-cigarette industry.” Literally, VTA wants SD legislators to vote against this bill and vote FOR their international partner in China!
- In other states that have passed legislation of this nature, the VTA has also brought suit to try to keep the pipeline open for illegal vaping products. In fact, they just lost a case in federal court in Kentucky trying to stop their law, where the opinion expressly noted “The Court cannot, and will not, find that anyone has a legally protected interest in violating unambiguous federal law.”
Senators can expect that their phones and e-mails are going to be hit this weekend from those who have an interest in keeping the unlawful, and as far as the FDA is concerned, adulterated products on store shelves which will end up in the hands of South Dakota youth.
As opposed to those selling unapproved vaping products, and partners of the Chinese vaping industry, House Bill 1069 has been supported by those who do it right, and sell legal products. That list includes the SD Police Chiefs, Melissa Magstadt, Secretary of the Department of Health, the Sheriff’s Association, Petroleum Marketers (who don’t want to sell the illegal stuff), the Department of Revenue, Protecting SD Kids, Concerned Women of America, and the Attorney General’s office.
The bottom line is that Senators should resist the push from those who are selling the illegal and unknown Chinese vaping products and their lobbyists, and to pass House Bill 1069 next week.
Curious if this will shut down Kevin Quick’s operation?
Many of these shady smoke shops getting busted.
Jasper Diegel. Buwahahahahaha. That very young lady probably doesn’t even vape in the Stace Nelson Memorial Head.
Which legal vape products are these people selling?
“SD Police Chiefs, Melissa Magstadt, Secretary of the Department of Health, the Sheriff’s Association, Petroleum Marketers (who don’t want to sell the illegal stuff), the Department of Revenue, Protecting SD Kids, Concerned Women of America, and the Attorney General’s office.”
Here’s a list of FDA approved vapes: https://digitalmedia.hhs.gov/tobacco/hosted/E-Cigarettes-Authorized-FDA-JAN2025.pdf
Little bit weird how they’re all owned by Big Tobacco, isn’t it? Maybe they’re the ones lobbying for this?
Also it should be known that the FDA basically created this disposable market by their previous dumb decisions. From the AP:
“More than 5,800 unique disposable products are now being sold in numerous flavors and formulations, according to the data, up 1,500% from 365 in early 2020. That’s when the FDA effectively banned all flavors except menthol and tobacco from cartridge-based e-cigarettes like Juul, the rechargeable device blamed for sparking a nationwide surge in underage vaping.
But the FDA’s policy, formulated under President Donald Trump, excluded disposables, prompting many teens to simply switch from Juul to the newer flavored products.”
This won’t solve anything, people will just order online if they have to.
If these smokescreen products are illegal, why do we need another law to make them illegal? I saw some of this huffing going on at the Mud Hole the other day, and it sickened me. This is why toking of any kind just cannot be tolerated by society. No toking, people. Not in grudznick’s breakfasting spots.
At Rotary Thursday, the drug counselors specifically mentioned the problem these things cause. In other words, taxpayers are paying a bundle because of this product.
Words of stupidity from larry kurtz.
But the article neglects to say who brought the bill to the house and who has has donated to the sponsors campaigns. Who is actually lobbying.. Altria. Big tobacco. The only winners as the only approved products are owned by tobacco companies, 23 out of 26 million applications.
Why the pushback on Sheriffs, Police Chiefs, the health department concerned parents, and those who are getting FDA approval? You are under a dangerous illusion if you think Big Vape selling illegal and adulterated products is somehow a defensible or morally superior position.
Let’s make something clear. “Big Vape” in South Dakota is a passionate group of small business owners simply fighting to keep their livelihoods in place. Anonymous at February 28, 2025 at 1:35 pm nailed it. This bill is part of a coordinated effort by Big Tobacco across the country to keep the little guys from cutting into their profit margins. Why would Altria et al. want to restrict their own industry? Tale as old as time: By keeping the barrier to entry high, they can remain the only ones that can afford to jump through the hoops, thereby eliminating the competition.
This ^
Altria is suspected to have written the federal PMTA as it only allows THEIR products to be approved. Now they are trying to get the states to enforce this process as it means that only THEIR ( Big Tobacco) products would be allowed for sale in the states that this bill passes in. They spoke about it in their quarter 4 earning report. They said they were going into states, to force regulation change that would allow them to come up on top and raise their stock earnings 5-5.5%.
“The Court cannot, and will not, find that anyone has a legally protected interest in violating unambiguous federal law.”
There is no right to sell shady chemicals that you illegally import from China that are not even legal to sell there.
Millions of Americans died and will continue to die by health related illnesses caused by big tobacco. Nicotine is no more harmful than caffeine. The negative perception of vaping has been caused by NGOs pushing a false narrative that vapes are bad and refuse to report the science. We should be celebrating that smoking rates have significantly decreased and continue to decrease every year. Instead we attack the economic equivalent industry that is responsible for saving lives. We call these vapes illicit only on the merits that the FDA is failing Americans. What we should be concerned about is counterfeit vapes from a black market if you close the industry down and the risks of how many people will return to deadly cigarettes.
I’m not sure if anyone read the quoted text that was se t to Fifty Bar by the FDA. But it states that if your product was not designed before 2007 that you cannot be on the market with it.Have we not heard of innovation?
Does any other industry force the non-innovation of their products? Of course not. Innovation happens constantly. We should not be forced to be stuck in the past. We aren’t Big Tobacco, we are Big VAPE. The peowho are saving hundreds of thousands yearly from smoking related deaths.
These “illegal” products do not contain a plethora of chemicals like traditional cigarettes. They contain only 4 chemicals. All of which are found in everyday foods and have been approved by the FDA for food use. For a LOOONGG time. These aren’t new chemicals. Vegetable Glycerin, propylene glycol, nicotine (found in foods such as tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants), and flavoring (food grade).
These are not dangerous products. The actual danger comes from Big Tobacco.
Stand by your arguments then and don’t go out and hire lobbyists like Jasper Diegel. Talk to your representatives and have other vapors do the same. It’s been said this year that it’s your body your choice when it comes to vaccines. This is ingestion of a manufactured product, same as a vaccine. Same thing, right? You don’t need jasper’s help. Point out the hypocrisy and you can’t lose.
Look at the list of lobbyists brought in by big tobacco to pass the bill they wrote. Vape companies and business owners can’t do hire a lobbyist? Talk about hypocrisy!
On this bill, the list was the SD Police Chiefs, Melissa Magstadt, Secretary of the Department of Health, the Sheriff’s Association, Petroleum Marketers (who don’t want to sell the illegal stuff), the Department of Revenue, Protecting SD Kids, Concerned Women of America, and the Attorney General’s office.
Again, you ignore the fact an Altria exec testified and that they are pushing the bill. Take a look at who’s registered for big tobacco and who’s working the floor for big tobacco.
Today, at the Conservatives with Common Sense Breakfasting, the opening rant will not be about Ms. Jasper and the Big Vape. It will be about effective lobbists and who will really drape the vape. After the gravy taters have been et, we have a surprise featured speaker who will entertain questions from those assembled.
https://www.capjournal.com/community/local-business-owner-finds-strength-in-family-work/article_cbc6ba84-32cb-11ed-80ed-8b61c908363d.html
Another smoke shop owner who is protesting that he will have to selll legal products instead of kiddie oriented stuff not approved by the FDA.
There are times I feel dumber after reading the comments defending something illegal. This is one of those times.
Illegal? I was under the impression that courts decided what’s legal or not, not commentators on blogs, basement dweller keyboard warriors, or well-intended legislators. And as far as I understand, the PMTA process was extended to include vaping products through the 2016 Deeming Rule created by the FDA, not Congress. And now, the issue of whether the PMTA process was legally administered or not is before some of the highest courts in the land – which I think the courts will decide what’s legal or illegal here, and whether or not the FDA violated these companies rights or not.
I have found 2 of these devices in my kid’s room in the span of a month. The vapes use photos of candy and fruit to market the product towards children as if it were candy. It’s complete BS that SD allows that crap to be sold when it’s illegal. Pass the law and crack down on this before more kids get addicted to nicotine.