According to WFLA reports, the Florida House and Senate are planning to conduct a final vote that would only allow the sale of e-cigarette products approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, multiple e-cigarette store owners believe the proposal will create unfairness.
Nick Orlando, an e-cigarette shop owner based in Largo City, stated that the plan will only allow e-cigarette shops to sell a limited number of products, creating an unfair situation where all these products are owned by large tobacco companies.
Florida Senator Keith Perry (R-Gainesville) is one of the sponsors of SB1006. He emphasizes that the bill will require all e-cigarette stores to only sell FDA-approved products, and will create a state-level registry of approved products. Perry states that this is in effort to combat the use of e-cigarettes and illegal e-cigarette products by teenagers.
If you walk into any store today, you will see products that look like highlighters, yellow highlighters. These things are not designed to help people quit smoking.
E-cigarette store owners have been vocal in their opposition to the proposal, arguing that it could force many shops to close. "We would have to remove 99% of our products," Orlando said. He is also the chairman of the Florida Smoke Free Association and will be heading to Capitol Hill this week to urge lawmakers to amend the bill.
Do not let the FDA represent Florida in this way, register with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), obtain a license, place a license number on each product sold, so that law enforcement agencies or inspectors can come in to inspect the products and verify them. Place the products behind a door labeled 21 years old and above.
Orlando is worried that the proposed proposal will bankrupt the majority of e-cigarette shops. "We won't be able to continue selling four products. This means 10,000 e-cigarette shops in Florida, with 50,000 people unemployed."
Currently, the proposed versions from both the House of Representatives and the Senate have been passed by committees and are scheduled for a full vote before next week's meeting.
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