Free from smoking but not free to buy the products that got me here

Some consumers and businesses are facing hard choices

The quote, "If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it; he is obligated to do so,” is attributed to Thomas Jefferson during the period around the American Revolution. But those who share the quote are on the wrong side of history. There is no proof he ever said it.

Almost 250 years after Jefferson didn’t say those notorious words, we’re sitting on the wrong side of history when it comes to nicotine policies. Our laws and regulations, while well-intentioned, often fail to consider the potential unintended consequences. 

We can't afford to be on the wrong side of history any longer. As businesses fight to survive, the interpretation and enforcement of our current regulations, American consumers are left without legal access to the products that helped them quit smoking and remain smoke-free.

The only other option available for those consumers is to look the other way and purchase what works for them, and legalities be damned. And the only way for many small businesses to survive is to sell consumers the products they want.

One of my favorite lines from the Declaration of Independence says that we are endowed with “certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” 

Two days ago, we celebrated another Independence Day in the United States. Sadly, about 1300 Americans didn’t survive the day to join in the festivities. They died from causes attributed to smoking tobacco.

I’m left to ponder: Are we really free? As I watch small businesses lock their doors for the last time and consumers denied access to the products that helped them achieve better health, I do not see any happiness. All I see is the crushing of the American dream.

Retailers, unable to keep enough American-made products on the shelf to stay in business, have turned to buying products from other countries to keep their customers supplied with vapor products so those customers don’t go back to smoking. 

None of those products from other countries are legally sold in America, but consumers don’t care. All they seek is to use products that provide the nicotine they want that doesn’t require smoking to get it.

Like American manufacturers, vape shops are also going out of business. Some shops cannot compete with changes in the marketplace, such as the plethora of disposable vapes in the flavors consumers demand sold at gas stations. Disposable vapes are byproducts of unjust regulations that have required most e-liquid manufacturers in the US to close their doors forever. 

As the industry I loved shuts down, the thing I will miss the most is the sense of community fostered in local vape shops—built-in support groups with peer guidance for millions of quit-smoking journeys. We came from many walks of life, but as soon as we stepped foot in our local vape shops, we were family.

To some, the bad news is that what I’m vaping right now is technically not “legal.” It is in limbo and has been waiting for a decision from the FDA for years. But like many consumers, I don’t care if it’s legal. It is shocking to type those words because I have always had a strong sense of right and wrong.

I have learned that my sense of justice is more substantial than my sense of right or wrong, and what we have done to thousands of American manufacturers, vape shops, and their customers is far from just.

I celebrate the good news that I, along with millions of my fellow Americans, are finally free from smoking. My country should want that for anyone who has ever smoked.

I hope we get on the right side of history soon. I want to be a citizen using legal products, and I want the American businesses that make and sell those products to be able to provide them to me.