While teen vaping has declined since Massachusetts passed a ban of menthol cigarettes and flavored e-cigarettes in 2019, state tobacco inspectors have found an influx in cross-state smuggling of those products.
Keenan, one of the key lawmakers behind the 2019 law, tells Axios he's also asking Senate leaders for more state funding for the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program, which runs awareness campaigns about health defects tied to smoking.
Its report also recommends giving the Department of Revenue's criminal investigation bureau more teeth and changing the law so retailers caught illegally buying and selling smuggled tobacco and nicotine products get their license suspended or revoked. The current penalty is $5,000 and/or up to five years of prison time, with a smaller penalty for violations involving fewer than 12,000 cigarettes.Opponents of the 2019 law say it hasn't stopped people from buying flavored vaping products. They just buy it out of state or on the black market, which cuts into retailers' profits and the state's tax coffers.
"Both organized criminals and petty smugglers are reaping millions from this newly created illicit market while the state is being forced to spend more and more on enforcement, with no long-term plan in place," Peter Brennan, executive director of the New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association,
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