Kentucky vaping businesses concerned new law will put them out of business

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) -A new law set to take effect Wednesday, January 1, has some Kentucky vaping businesses concerned.

House Bill 11 passed the legislature and was signed into law by the governor. It was designed to keep vaping products away from kids.

However, some say there are unintended consequences in how the law will be enforced.

One Lexington-based vaping store owner says the concern is that nearly everything on his shelf will be considered illegal on January 1.

“Theoretically, the vast majority of products in every vape store will be illegal unless they’ve made a lot of adjustments,” said Tony Florence, who is also a board member of the Kentucky Smoke-Free Association.

Florence says the enforcement arm of the bill—passed with the intent to keep products away from kids—is the state Alcoholic Beverage Control agency. And he says the commissioner of the state ABC is planning to remove products from nearly every vaping store shelf.

“Has interpreted HB 11 in such a way she’s requiring a safe harbor documentation that doesn’t exist for any product in the market,” he said.

A total of five businesses and the Kentucky Hemp Association filed a lawsuit that a Franklin circuit judge dismissed in July. It was appealed, but a court of appeals rejected that appeal earlier this month. The plaintiffs claimed House Bill 11 was unconstitutional.

Florence says there’s other lawsuits still working their way on both the state and federal level. He says he’s operating a legit business that is helping people kick a habit.

“They are just people trying to quit smoking. 3 to 400,000 vapers in Kentucky. These people need options,” Florence said.

Florence says he doesn’t plan to close shop anytime soon.

“I feel as though I am very responsible for all the people that work for me and their livelihoods. And I will do everything I can to make sure they still get their paychecks every week.”

But he says it’s concerning given that the law also carries a $1,000 fine for violations, he’s just hoping it doesn’t come to that for legitimate legal Kentucky businesses.

WKYT reached out to the state ABC, Secretary of State, and others who filed the bill but have not heard back from them.

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