by Chase Wilson ‘17

From 2011 to 2015, vaping among high school students rose from 1.5 percent to 16 percent, according to a study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The spike in teen vaping was expectedly met by government countermeasures. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) passed regulations that went into effect August 8 containing restrictions that make buying vaporizers or vape accessories harder for teens, in addition to cracking down on manufacturing and sales of e-juice, the mixture to the customer’s discretion of vegetable glycerin (VG), propylene glycol (PG), flavorings and liquid nicotine.

Within the new regulations, the FDA mandates that no shop sell to minors, which in most cases was already state law. However, the federal regulations bar vape shops from letting minors sample their flavors for free. Since there is no reason for minors to be in the shop at all after these regulations, a majority of vape shops do not let shoppers through the door without identification.

A restriction on all products made after August 8 means that vape shops that used to be able to mix their own juices must now go through a long, expensive process to register with the FDA before the products can hit shelves. Shops are banned from assembling customers’ personal vapes, which has many people in the industry worried; without the guidance of an experienced vape user, the instances of injury or worse due to improper use of the electronics are expected to rise.

The vaping industry, which was estimated at a worth of a whopping $3.7 billion last year, could fizzle under the pressure of these regulations. Many small vape shops have already voluntarily closed down and most of the ones still open are trying to find ways to adapt to the disruption of the market.

Banned from shops, teens have found a way around the regulations by ordering products online. “It’s just easier to buy online. There’s no face-to-face transaction and no real risk,” said a senior who currently vapes.

Shops on the Internet like Ecig.com and Vapordirect.com offer a multitude of flavors; some targeting smokers trying to quit, like a tobacco flavor, and other juices targeting people with a sweeter palette, like one made to taste like a juice box. There are also options for controlling the proportions of PG and VG and the amount of nicotine in the juice.