Gov. Ron DeSantis has vetoed a bill that, among other things, would’ve banned the selling of flavored vaping cartridges.
That’s good news for Vape Road in St. Petersburg.
“If this hadn’t gotten vetoed, I would’ve been extremely worried about where profits are gonna come from,“ said Vape Road spokesman Tasso Nikolov.
“I’d say maybe 90-95% of our sales are flavors like fruits or desserts.”
Nikolov says it’s not just business. Its a helpful service offering flavored vapes to people trying to kick the habit of smoking cigarettes.
“It ends up being hugely more effective by having that variety, and having something for people to try out – especially if their first experience with vape – ends ups being something completely unenjoyable,” Nikolov said.
In his veto, the governor sided with these businesses.
“This legislation would almost surely lead more people to resume smoking cigarettes and would drive others to the hazardous black market,“ Gov. DeSantis said.
But some legislators say they’re determined to find a way to regulate vape shops.
“Right now, they’re unregulated,” said District 60 State Repesentative Jackie Toledo. “They act as just a retail shop, so we don’t really have an idea of how many vape shops there are. We don’t know what they’re selling, and we have no way to enforce this.”
Federal law makes it illegal to sell vape products to anyone under 21. Toledo says she plans to introduce another bill next year in hopes of regulating vape shops in Florida.