Pennsylvania’s Vape Directory Bill Risks Rolling Back Harm Reduction Progress

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Key Points:

• Proposed Vape Registry: Pennsylvania lawmakers are advancing House Bill 1425, which would create a statewide e-cigarette directory allowing only FDA-authorized or pending products to be sold. Manufacturers would face steep registration fees and bonding requirements, and unlisted products would be seized and destroyed after 120 days.

• Severe Penalties: Retailers selling unlisted products could face $500 to $1,500 fines per product, repeat violations could lead to license revocation, and the Attorney General would have broad inspection powers over vape businesses.

• Policy Intent vs. Reality: Supporters say the bill targets “illicit Chinese-made products,” but in practice it copies the FDA’s broken regulatory model, which favors large tobacco companies while punishing small businesses and restricting adult access to safer alternatives.

• Limited Federal Approvals: The FDA has authorized only 39 e-cigarette products – all tobacco or menthol flavored – from four major manufacturers. More than 99 percent of small-business applications have been denied, leaving millions of adult vapers without approved products.

• Adult Use & Harm Reduction: In 2022, 757,000 Pennsylvanians were current vapers – many using these products to quit smoking. Enforcing FDA standards at the state level would push adults back to cigarettes or into illicit markets, undermining public health goals.

• Youth Use Trends: Pennsylvania youth smoking and vaping have declined dramatically. In 2023, only 3.7 percent of high school students smoked, down from 18.4 percent in 2009. Youth vaping peaked in 2019 but has since fallen 34 percent to 16 percent, and ever-use dropped 36 percent, proving existing education and enforcement are working.

• Retailer Compliance Strong: From January 2024–October 2025, FDA inspections found violations in just 14 percent of Pennsylvania retailers; only 5.9 percent involved e-cigarettes, while 80 percent were cigar-related. Vape and smoke shops had the lowest violation rate (3.7 percent) statewide.

• Policy Consequences: HB 1425 would eliminate most vapor products, harm small businesses, and reverse smoking declines. Replicating federal overreach risks driving adults to the black market instead of helping them stay smoke-free.

• Policy Recommendation: Rather than adopting restrictive registries, Pennsylvania should support compliance efforts, allow products with pending PMTAs to remain on the market, and prioritize adult access to lower-risk nicotine products that reduce smoking-related disease.

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Lawmakers in the Keystone State are considering legislation that could significantly restrict access to tobacco harm reduction products for the 1.5 million Pennsylvania adult smokers and nearly 757,000 adults who vaped in 2022. While House Bill 1425 is presented as a means to strengthen oversight of e-cigarettes in Pennsylvania, it fails to recognize the benefits these products offer to adults seeking to quit smoking, the delays and inconsistencies in federal regulation, and the encouraging downward trends in youth use. It also overlooks the strong compliance record of retailers who already work to prevent underage sales. Rather than replicating federal bureaucracy and punitive enforcement, lawmakers could pursue balanced, evidence-based policies that address youth vaping without undermining adult access to safer alternatives.

House Bill 1425 would amend Pennsylvania’s Tax Reform Code of 1971 to overhaul the licensing, regulation, and taxation of tobacco and nicotine products, including e-cigarettes. The legislation would create an Electronic Nicotine Delivery System Directory – a statewide registry of nicotine-containing vapor products permitted for sale. The directory, to be maintained by the Pennsylvania Attorney General, would require manufacturers to certify that their products have either received an FDA marketing authorization; have a pending premarket tobacco product application (PMTA); or are identical to already authorized products. To be listed, manufacturers must also pay steep certification fees – $2,000 per brand family and $200 per brand style upon first submission, with annual renewals costing $1,000 and $100 respectively – and post a surety bond of at least $50,000.

Once the directory is published, manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers would have 120 days to remove unlisted products. Any products remaining after that period would be deemed contraband and subject to seizure, forfeiture, and destruction. The Attorney General and Department of Revenue would have authority to conduct unannounced compliance checks, inspect business records, and impose escalating fines. Retailers or wholesalers could face a $500 penalty per product for a first offense, with fines rising to $1,000–$1,500 and license revocation for repeat violations.

According to the sponsor’s memo, the legislation is intended to combat the growth of “Chinese-manufactured illicit nicotine vapor products” marketed in youth-appealing flavors and packaging. While protecting youth and curbing illegal imports are worthwhile goals, HB 1425 reinforces a federal regulatory structure that favors large tobacco companies, burdens small businesses, and ignores the clear evidence that youth vaping and smoking rates are falling.

The FDA has authorized only 39 e-cigarette products for sale – all in tobacco or menthol flavors and all produced by just four manufacturers, three of which sell combustible cigarettes. This is grossly inadequate for the more than 756,000 Pennsylvanians who vape. Since 2020, the FDA has denied more than 99 percent of the millions of PMTAs submitted by small, responsible manufacturers, leaving most adult consumers without lawful alternatives. Despite its 2017 stated commitment to recognizing a continuum of risk among tobacco products, the agency has issued only 73 marketing orders for reduced-risk products, compared with 414 for combustible cigarettes. If Pennsylvania enforces these federal standards at the state level, adults who vape could be pushed toward the illicit market or back to smoking – an outcome that contradicts public-health objectives.

The legislation also ignores Pennsylvania’s success in reducing youth tobacco and vapor use. According to the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey, only 15.5 percent of high-school students had ever tried cigarettes in 2023, and 3.7 percent were current smokers – dramatic declines from 2009, when nearly half had tried smoking and 18.4 percent were current smokers. Youth vaping, which peaked in 2019 with 52.6 percent reporting ever use and 24.4 percent current use, has since fallen sharply: by 2023, ever use was down 36 percent to 33.7 percent, and current use had dropped 34 percent to 16 percent – lower than in 2015 when 24.1 percent were currently vaping.

Retailers are also demonstrating strong compliance. FDA tobacco retailer compliance inspections conducted between January 2024 and October 2025 show that of 5,939 Pennsylvania retailers inspected, only 14 percent were cited for any violation, and just 5.9 percent involved e-cigarettes. Cigar sales accounted for 80 percent of violations. Vape and smoke specialty stores performed even better, responsible for only 3.7 percent of all underage-sale violations.

HB 1425 may appear to create a structured regulatory system, but in practice it disregards the evidence that youth vaping is declining, that adults depend on these products to quit smoking, and that retailers are largely following the law. Instead of mirroring federal overreach, Pennsylvania lawmakers should explore more pragmatic approaches – strengthening compliance enforcement, allowing products with timely-filed PMTAs to remain on the market, and maintaining adult access to less harmful alternatives. With a harm-reduction framework that balances regulation and access, the Commonwealth could lead in promoting both public health and consumer choice.

Nothing in this analysis is intended to influence the passage of legislation, and it does not necessarily represent the views of Tobacco Harm Reduction 101.