Vape Regulations: How They Affect Consumers and How Vape Shops Can Tackle This Issue

Suppose we wanted to describe the never-ending battle of which came first, the chicken or the egg. We could just as easily discuss which activity is more or less harmless to humans, vaping or smoking, as the perfect example.

If we solely used logic to find our answer, then most of us would naturally choose vaping as our answer. Vapor is not smoke, and doesn’t necessarily contain nicotine, and if it does, the nicotine is not necessarily sourced from tobacco leaves.

But that’s not what new vape regulations tell us. Every day there seem to be more and more bans (i.e. the recently approved California flavored vape ban), shipping restrictions, and retail requirements that impede consumers from purchasing vape products. Not to say that the same restrictions don’t apply to smokable products, as in many cases they do, but they also leave adult consumers without any options, or at least not all the options that the market has to offer.

So:

To get our real answer, what we really need to do is understand what we’re talking about when we talk about subjects like consumer welfare and underage consumption prevention. Subjects that both parties (for and against vaping) seem to not really care about unless they help win the political battle that it has become.

What Is Consumer Welfare?

Consumer welfare refers to the individual benefits that consumers of a specific good or service can reap by using that product or service. But who is entitled to say what those benefits are? Or even more importantly, what the drawbacks of those products are and whether they’re important or not.

In theory, from what the current state of vape regulations allows us to conclude, individual welfare should and only can be defined by that individual’s own assessment of their satisfaction with the product or service. Although, that line may be drawn quite thinly when it comes to consumables that have an effect on health like nicotine, vapor, or smoke. Especially because not every consumer is licensed as a professional physician. In other words, my own satisfaction as a consumer may not be as important as the opinion of a licensed medical professional on what it does or can do to my health in the long run. This conclusion is made even more plausible if we take into account that there are regulating agencies whose sole purpose is to look out for the country’s overall state of health.

Nevertheless:

This conclusion is not less controversial because of it, as there may be a place to make the case that a conclusion of sorts could get in the way of free will, one of the founding pillars of the United States.

So, I guess the question isn’t about defining consumer welfare, but rather look to settle the controversy on whether or not the definition of consumer welfare should be left for the consumer to define, as each and every consumer may have a different opinion.

Are Combustible Cigarettes More or Less Harmless Than Vaping?

As with consumer welfare, there is also a deep controversy brewing regarding which of these options is more harmful to human beings on a physiological scale. Most people would define consumer welfare as a solely physiological matter. This means that its definition is based on the physical harm vaping can do to the body.

If looked at with a magnifying glass, vaping is detrimental to health, as would be drinking, eating in excess, or not eating or drinking enough water. The point is, can vaping truly be looked at from a neutral perspective if we don’t compare it to its alternative: Smoking?

To look at it from another perspective, what’s more harmful, drinking a lot of soda or drinking a lot of alcohol? Well, we can’t answer that because we’re not medical professionals here, but you get the drift of what we’re trying to say. Sometimes, we might just have to substitute something harmful for something less harmful instead of ‘quitting cold turkey’. If none of those options are available legally, then who’s to say what consumers might do?

How Can Vape Shops Tackle the Issue?

Unfortunately, the only way to tackle vape regulations that hurt your business is to comply with them and look for alternatives that do not clash with these rules. Nothing good can come out of not complying with the law on purpose; the license bans and economic penalties that come from not doing so will only make things worse.

Fortunately, there are a lot of business owners and consumers interested in seeing the vape industry thrive. This means that there are a lot of people trying to make things work, legally speaking. On top of that, there are also a lot of innovative manufacturers who are constantly looking for ways to push the envelope and provide vape shops with products that they can market.

Final Thoughts

Disposable vape regulations, or all vape regulations in general, are seemingly making it more difficult for businesses to thrive in the industry. This is why we have to ask ourselves how vape regulations affect consumers and how vape shops can tackle the issue to keep business going strong. If you’re interested in purchasing vape products that you can actually distribute in your shop, then feel free to register for a wholesale account with VapeRanger.