A3178 would ban the sales of flavored electronic cigarettes and vaping devices, as well as prohibit the sales of menthol-flavored combustible cigarettes.

S3265 would ban the sales of flavored e-cigarettes and does not include menthol tobacco cigarettes.

S4223 “revises licensure” for vaping businesses and prohibit e-cigarettes sales in convenience stores and allow only brick-and-mortar vape shops to sell such products.

A5922 would increase the fine for selling e-cigarettes and tobacco products to minors.

• The increase would be “$500 for a first offense, $1,000 for a second offense, and $2,000 for a third or subsequent offense.”

• The bill would also require retailers to install electronic age verification systems. 

• It would require all vaping products sold in the state to be registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

• The bill would also limit the amount of nicotine in vaping products to 2 percent, or 20 milligrams per milliliter

A5923 revises vaping licenses and would create two different types of licenses for vaping products: “basic vapor licenses for entities seeking to sell electronic smoking devices and liquid nicotine cartridges, and plenary vapor business licenses for entities seeking to sell non-cartridge vaping liquid.”

• A5923 would also increase the tax on vaping products from $0.10 per fluid milliliter and a 10 percent wholesale tax on the retail price of non-cartridge vaping e-liquid, to $0.20 and 20 percent of retail sale price, respectively.

• The bill bill would also “assess a new 20 percent tax on the retail sale price of electronic smoking devices.”

Santa Clara County, California, banned flavored tobacco product sales to age-restricted stores in 2014. Despite this, youth e-cigarette use increased while the ban was in effect.

• In the 2015-16 CYTS, 7.5 percent of Santa Clara high school students reported current use of e-cigarettes. In the 2017-18 CYTS, this increased to 10.7 percent.

Another Heartland analysis examined the effects of Pennsylvania’s 40 percent wholesale tax, which went into effect in 2016. The analysis noted in 2015, 27 percent of Pennsylvania 12th graders used an e-cigarette. This increased to 29.3 percent in 2017.

A 2018 survey of nearly 70,000 American adults noted 83.2 percent and 72.3 percent of survey respondents reported vaping fruit and dessert flavors, respectively. 

A menthol ban could lead to to racial repercussions. . While white Americans smoke more menthol cigarettes than African Americans, “black smokers [are] 10-11 times more likely to smoke” menthol cigarettes than white smokers.

• This sentiment was expressed in a recent letter from the mothers of Eric Garner and Trayvon Martin to the New York City council, who are debating a ban on menthol cigarettes. In their letter, they implored lawmakers to “pay very close attention to the unintended consequences of a ban on menthol cigarettes and what it would mean for communities of color.”

New Jersey retailers have actually sold more cigarettes and cigars to minors than e-cigarettes. From September 1, 2018 to August 31, 2019, FDA conducted 4,667 tobacco product compliance checks on retailers in New Jersey. Of these, only 543, or 11.6 percent involved sales to minors. Of the 543 sales to minors, only 95, or 17 percent, involved sales of electronic cigarettes and vaping devices. Surprisingly, retailers were in violation of selling larger amounts of other tobacco products to minors, with cigarettes comprising 54 percent of minor sales with 297 violations, and cigars consisting of 137 violations, or 25 percent of sales to minors.

New Jersey spends little of existing tobacco moneys on tobacco control and prevention. In 2019, the Garden State received an estimated $919.6 million in revenue from tobacco settlement payments and taxes. That year, New Jersey allocated only $7.2 million, or 0.07 percent, on tobacco education and prevention programs.