USPS Action Against Major Vapor Distributor Further Limits E-Cigarette Access for Adults

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Key Points:

• USPS Crackdown: Mid-July, USPS revoked mailing privileges for Demand Vape, a major distributor serving 5,000 retailers in 49 states.

• Cited Violations: Action followed NYC claims of shipping unauthorized products in violation of the city’s flavor ban.

• Market Impact: Loss of USPS forces costly private carrier use, likely benefiting large tobacco companies with scarce FDA authorizations.

• Policy Backdrop: USPS has banned direct-to-consumer vape shipments since 2021 under the expanded PACT Act; B2B shipments require strict compliance.

• New York Restrictions: State flavor ban in place since 2020; young adult smoking is at record lows while adult vaping has risen nearly 49 percent since 2016.

• National Trends: U.S. adult vaping rose to 20+ million in 2023 as youth vaping fell 70 percent from 2019 peak; FDA has authorized only 39 products.

• Harm Reduction Risk: Enforcement without broader product approvals risks narrowing the market to big players and pushing consumers to illicit channels.

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Vapor product distributors are facing yet another setback – this time from the United States Postal Service (USPS). As reported by Reuters, in mid-July the USPS revoked the mailing exception for Demand Vape, a New York–based distributor that supplies an estimated 5,000 retailers in 49 states.

The move came after New York City’s Law Department provided evidence that the company shipped vaping products lacking authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and in violation of the city’s flavored vape ban. In a July 15 letter, USPS informed Demand Vape that its Buffalo office “will not accept any packages… from Demand Vape” containing electronic nicotine delivery systems. For one of the country’s largest distributors, the decision effectively shuts off the most affordable and accessible shipping option for its business-to-business deliveries.

The USPS has prohibited shipments of vaping products directly to consumers since October 2021, following amendments to the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act. Originally passed in 2009 to combat illicit, untaxed cigarette sales, the PACT Act banned cigarettes and smokeless tobacco from being mailed to consumers. In December 2020, Congress expanded the law in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, adding e-cigarettes and all related components to the definition of covered products. The rules allow for limited exceptions – such as business-to-business shipments or deliveries within Alaska and Hawaii when no alternatives exist – but those shipments require pre-approval, adult signatures upon delivery, and extensive record-keeping.

Demand Vape has operated under those B2B rules, but losing USPS access forces the company to rely on private carriers, many of which already prohibit vape shipments or allow them only with prior approval at significantly higher costs. Reuters notes that this latest USPS action is expected to benefit large tobacco companies like Altria and British American Tobacco (BAT), whose Reynolds Vapor Company received the FDA’s first premarket tobacco product marketing order in 2021 for its Vuse e-cigarette. While the ban may target alleged violations, it also has the effect of narrowing the market to companies already holding scarce FDA authorizations – further limiting adult access to reduced-risk alternatives.

New York has been at the forefront of restricting e-cigarette access. In 2019, state lawmakers advanced legislation to curb youth vaping, with some claiming e-cigarettes were a “gateway” to smoking – despite a lack of evidence. That same year, amid an outbreak of vaping-related lung injuries linked primarily to illicit THC products, then-Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an emergency order banning flavored e-cigarettes. The ban was codified in 2020 and has remained in place ever since. Yet the data contradicts the fear-driven rhetoric. In 2023, just 3.4 percent of New York young adults smoked cigarettes – one of the lowest rates on record – and young adult vaping dropped by 5.8 percent from 2022. Meanwhile, nearly 1 million New York adults were vaping in 2023, a 48.8 percent increase from 2016.

Nationwide, the same trend is evident. Between 2016 and 2023, the number of U.S. adults who vape grew by nearly 9 million, reaching more than 20 million people – most of them current or former smokers. Nearly half of adult vapers are between the ages of 25 and 44. This rise in adult use has coincided with a dramatic, 70.5 percent decline in youth vaping since its peak in 2019, even as sales of unauthorized disposable vapes have surged. To date, the FDA has authorized just 39 e-cigarette products – a woefully inadequate number for a market serving tens of millions of adults seeking to quit smoking.

By stripping a major distributor of its USPS shipping privileges, regulators risk further distorting the market in favor of the biggest players while pushing adult consumers toward less accessible or illicit channels. Rather than reinforcing a broken system, policymakers should demand that the FDA accelerate product authorizations so enforcement actions can focus on genuine bad actors without cutting off law-abiding businesses and the millions of adults who depend on safer alternatives to combustible cigarettes.

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.