Arizona bill to license vape manufacturers and distributors advances in Legislature

The Arizona Senate passed a bill on Tuesday that would create a new licensing system for vape manufacturers and distributors. The measure is pitched as a way to crack down on sales to minors.

The bill is supported by the vape lobby. It would set up a licensing framework for vape manufacturers and distributors and move oversight under the purview of the state Department of Liquor Licenses and Control. Currently, it’s managed by the Department of Health Services.

The bill passed the state Senate with bipartisan support on Tuesday, but there were a few holdouts who said it doesn’t go far enough.

“There should be a retail license for all nicotine and alternative nicotine products but this bill bifurcates them. It says vape is special, it’s different, and it’s not,” Sen. Mitzi Epstein (D-Tempe) said.

The bill creates penalties for vape retailers, but doesn’t license them. For that reason, the bill is opposed by health organizations like the American Cancer Society.

Brian Hummell is the government relations director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. He said the bill’s definitions are also inadequate when it comes to explaining the different kinds of nicotine products. He said it doesn't make sense to put vape products under the control of the liquor department nor house vape laws with liquor laws since they’re different.

The bill creates new financial penalties for selling vape products to minors, which increase in amount for every violation within a 24-month period.

Although Hummell approves of the heightened penalties in the bill, he doesn’t think it’s realistic that a bad actor will reach the highest penalties in that time frame, so he worries it won’t be enough of a deterrent.

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office works in tandem with the Department of Health Services to prosecute retailers who sell to minors. When the bill, HB4001, was introduced, the Attorney General’s Office opposed it. But the bill has since been amended and the office is on board.

The Attorney General’s Office wants to ensure it can still go after entities that sell to minors and that the department of liquor isn’t tasked with taking over those law enforcement responsibilities.