Editor’s note: This commentary is by Gaetano Putignano, who owns 802 E-Cig Supply Inc. based in Bellows Falls.
“If you could take every adult smoker and fully switch them to e-cigarettes, that would have a substantial public health impact.”
That statement was not made by a retailer or manufacturer of vaping products, also known as e-cigarettes. Nor was the statement made by a company executive with money to be made through the sales of vaping products.
To the contrary, those are the words of FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb. While he and the FDA and have not minced words about the unacceptability of increasing youth experimentation with these products, he has nonetheless advocated for keeping these products available on the U.S. market so adults can access them without massive barriers to use.
Unfortunately, in public policy, it can be difficult for elected officials to accept that some issues – particularly public health issues – are not merely black or white. Case in point, some members of the Vermont Legislature and the formerly anti-tax-hike Gov. Phil Scott are pushing for a massive new tax of 92 percent of wholesale on these products, even including standalone devices that aren’t sold with nicotine in them.
As the owner of two Vermont brick and mortar businesses exclusively dedicated to the sale of vaping products, I fully recognize that the use of these products among youth is a public health issue that should be addressed. That is why our stores are so vigilant about policing the age of our customers. We have never been cited for selling to a minor, despite several attempts from young people to purchase as part of sting operations.
Since opening my stores several years ago, my employees and I have helped over a thousand Vermont adults quit or greatly reduce their cigarette smoking. Some customers have even stepped down their nicotine levels to the point where they no longer use nicotine or vape at all. Our customers, particularly those who put down their cigarettes for good thanks to our guidance, are loyal and very thankful for the services we have provided.
However, customers loyalty can only go so far, particularly when we know that most adult smokers are in low socioeconomic categories. Both of my businesses are on the New Hampshire border. The proposed 92 percent of wholesale tax is so enormous that I will have no choice but to significantly raise my prices. With vape shops right across the border in New Hampshire not having to pay Vermont taxes, not to mention the thousands of online retailers both domestic and foreign that the Vermont government will have no chance of fully controlling, there is no chance that I will be able to keep my doors open.
Legislators looking for a preview of what’s to come if this tax passes should look no further than Pennsylvania. In 2016, the Pennsylvania Legislature passed a 40 percent wholesale tax on vaping products as part of its state budget. One year later, nearly every newspaper in Pennsylvania featured write-ups about the effect of the tax. Estimates varied, but at least 100 store closings were blamed on the imposition of a sloppily drafted, hastily-passed wholesale tax.
We know that vaping products help adult smokers quit. Just last month, the New England Journal of Medicine published a groundbreaking clinical trial finding that vaping products were twice as effective at helping smokers quit than traditional nicotine replacement therapy products.
Outside the U.S., this knowledge has spread fast, with Health Canada explicitly recommending that smokers completely replace their cigarette smoking and distinguished medical organizations like the Royal College of Physicians and Public Health England estimating that vaping is at least 95 percent less harmful than smoking cigarettes.
In a state that is rapidly heading towards legalized marijuana – with a 10 or 20 percent retail tax that is unlikely to discourage non-users from picking it up – it simply makes no sense to tax vaping products at such a high rate. I implore Vermont legislators to not fall victim to misinformation, strawman arguments, and outright lies that anti-vaping advocates have been spreading for years.
Every vote cast that restricts an adult smoker’s ability to access these life-saving products puts their life, and the lives of those around them, at risk. Every time we restrict or inhibit an adult smoker’s ability to switch to vaping, we make a significant negative impact on public health in our great state.
We want to be a part of the solution to both Vermont’s adult smoking and youth vaping problem, but we cannot help if we are put out of business. Please oppose this devastating new tax.
