The e-cigarette/vaping industry will soon be dead in Pennsylvania.

The BBQ Pit
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](Reddit - Dive into anything)

We all fought this, but some fights you just can’t win. Governor Wolf said he wanted it, he lobbied for it, and by God, he got it. So congratulations, Governor Wolf and company, you have just killed an entire industry. One of my friends owns a shop, and the increase in cost will be the end for him. He already can’t compete with online sales, how can he possibly expect people to come in and drop $150 on a mod that they can get for $80 online, or a bottle of juice that will now go for around $20 when you can get something similar online for slightly more than half that price? Brick and mortar shops are already a dying breed, but I support them because they give people a chance to talk to someone with knowledge so they can best tailor their experience to their needs, they can try flavors prior to buying, and they can see what they’re buying.

As the shops die away, people will flock to the Internet for their equipment. Good luck collecting the tax on that. What’s that, you say? They’ll find a way? OK, so good luck taxing purchases from Chinese distributors like Fasttech. It will never happen. Never. As for the juice, you think you can push us off of e-cigarettes that easily? I’ll buy vegetable glycerine and propylene glycol online. If I want nicotine in the mix I’ll get that, too, and that stuff lasts forever. You can’t stop me, do you understand that? YOU CAN’T STOP ME.

What you will be responsible for, however, is a great many deaths. People who can’t easily switch to e-cigarettes will stay on the real thing. There is ample evidence that there is no price that a smoker won’t pay to indulge their habit. E-cigarettes, until now, were inexpensive (after the initial investment in equipment), and the harm reduction is such that you should be encouraging people to switch, not killing that option entirely. But hey, smokers pay that filthy sin tax you love so much, so why would you ever want them to stop? Who cares if they die, there will always be more to bilk.

Other people will die when they start mixing their own juice and poison themselves with nicotine rather than buying their juice from someone who has already mixed it properly because there’s nowhere left to buy it from. Do you care about that, even a little, Governor Wolf?

What a world we live in, where a public health solution is destroyed because someone sees dollar signs and/or thinks they know better than you what you should be doing while the true menace to public health is openly sold behind the counter of every convenience store in the state. You’ll never see the money, Governor Wolf. But you will see cancer patients dying horribly for the foreseeable future. Sweet dreams. I hope that fact haunts you for the rest of your days.

So here I am, 3 years removed from my last cigarette, puffing away on my mod, wondering how in the world something like this could happen. I won’t have to wonder much longer, though, because I suspect a good number of responses to this will be in favor of Pennsylvania’s actions. Well, those of you that agree, take a bow. You’re killing people. Allow me to be the first to congratulate you. It’s not every day you get to say that you’re a part of something big.

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The claim that this is killing people assumes that more people will stay on cigarettes than the number prevented from a tobacco addiction in the first place, and that the money is not spent in a way that saves lives. It might be so, but I’d want to see some more data.

A 40% tax is nuts. But as taxes go, consumption taxes on entertainment goods with harmful externalities are a good choice. Probably better overall than higher sales taxes. Maybe even better than higher income taxes in a state like PA with a flat tax. I would rather see a statewide soda tax, higher alcohol tax, and legalization of taxed marijuana–none of which is individually so high that you’re shutting down a whole industry. But, of course, there’s a reason none of those is politically viable (especially the last one). So I’m happy to share the blame!

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Eh, I still think it’s a dick move to turn your addictive drug into an aerosol, even if you’re not turning a bunch of other horrible crap into an aerosol too.

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I’m slightly over a year on vapes and, having previously been a heavy smoker, can really feel the health benefits.

Not sure about the US, but tax on tobacco was a big earner for the Government over here in the UK (and the rest of Europe), so it seems like they’re trying to claw back some of the lost revenue.

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On the subject of dick moves, I invite you to re-read your post.

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If e-cigarettes were such a great tool for getting people to stop smoking, you’d think we’d have seen convincing evidence by now. But the research hasn’t worked out that way.

*"After one month, a greater percentage of people who used e-cigarettes had quit smoking, compared with the percentage of people who used a placebo or a nicotine patch. However, after three to six months, there was no difference in the quitting rates among people who smoked e-cigarettes, compared with those who took a placebo or used a nicotine patch.

“Although e-cigarettes are widely promoted and used as a smoking cessation tool, we found no data supporting their long-term efficacy,” study researcher Dr. Riyad Al-Lehebi, of the University of Toronto, said in a statement."*

To reassure the OP, I expect that the state of Pennsylvania will find a way to get tax revenue from online sales. And if e-cig users think the solution is to sneak imports in from China (with its wonderful record of bad and adulterated products), that’s an indication of the desperation involved in nicotine addiction, but a really dumb way to go.

If people want to grow their own tobacco, and process the nicotine with propylene glycol and other carrier substances in their own homes, go for it - just don’t spew your vapors in enclosed public spaces - or there will be even more laws you won’t like.

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It’s just another sin tax. It has the same justification as the other ones, to raise money for the state in a way a majority of voters won’t object to.

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It’s stupid to expect e-cigarettes will be a tool in getting people to quit smoking. It’s a tool to minimize the harmful effects of nicotine addiction. Dr. Riyad Al-Lehebi of the University of Toronto is wasting time and Canadian tax payer’s money by asking and answering such stupid research questions.

Addictions and the black market, I wonder what the research says about government success in defeating this combination? I wonder how many people are going to die or damage their health further, lose their job, or be put into financial difficulty all because the government cannot provide the revenue it needs via things like attracting new business or being more efficient?

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The research hasn’t worked out that way? I couldn’t give a flying fuck what any Billy Bollocks researcher says, it’s worked for me.

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Says the man who has never, ever, farted.

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Me too, and many others on this board alone. And frankly, that’s all the evidence I need to see to justify the need for such a product.

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Do you feel better? Because I certainly do. Ok, I’ve still got a nicotine addiction, but it strikes me as a lot more healthier option than cigarettes.

Obviously New Puritans like Jackmannii disagree…

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I also depends on what you mean by quitting. I have been vaping for about 3 years now. I don’t really smoke cigarettes anymore, but sometimes I do.

Previously when I quit, I had to just stay the fuck away from nicotine, just smelling the smoke from the other side of the park was enough to give me cravings. If I smoke one cigarette, it was all over, and I pretty much would have to go through the entire withdraw process again.

Now that I’ve pretty much quit cigarettes, but not nicotine, I can smoke the occasional cigarette without craving more. In fact, I usually only smoke around 1/3 of a cig before I am good on it. I probably smoke a cig a week or so. I don’t know if that is considered quitting, but it has done wonders for my health, and that is what matters to me.

My parents chain smoked in the house and car when I was a kid. I was addicted to nicotine my entire life. I have quit smoking for as much as nearly 2 years before, and pretty much every day was extremely stressful for me.

In the last 3 years, I’ve smoked about as many cigarettes as I used to smoke in 3 days, and it is not stressful at all.

Even if vapes have some kind of negative health effect, it is far less than smoking. Smokers should be encouraged to try switching to vaping, rather than trying to discourage it through excess regulations and taxes.

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I feel WAY better. And not only that, I feel more in control of my addiction. I can work all day with out thinking about stepping outside for a cigarette. It’s nice to have my vape contraption when I step out for lunch. But I’m not jonesing for it like I used to with cigarettes.

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Oh, and allow me to use this opportunity to brag: Yesterday I ran 5k in just under 37min.

Nothing spectacular, but for me it is. Also something I would have never been able to do if I were still smoking.

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For the first month or so, I was reaching out for a pack of cigarettes that wasn’t there. That was the habit, rather than the addiction, and that took a bit of getting used to. I’ve converted other people to vaping because they thought “bloody hell, if he can do it, I can” I was a very heavy smoker, and I’m feeling the benefits. I realise I’m still addicted to nicotine, but I’m not inhaling all the other shit that comes from cigaretttes.

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I know what you mean. I can go a lot longer without a vape than I could without a cigarette. I think it might be a difference between habit and addiction.

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I can also just hit the vape once or twice to quell any cravings. If I light up a cig, I feel invested enough in it that I feel I should smoke the whole thing. Guys are expensive these days.

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How far from a state border do you live, Airman?

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If you knew a recovering alcoholic and you spiked his drink, that would make you a dick. Doing the same thing with nicotine isn’t any better.