Retail Giant Walmart Announces Plan To Stop Selling E-Cigarettes
The nation's largest retailer often sets an example for other companies. The move comes as concern grows about the health risks of the products and their soaring popularity among teenagers.
The Associated Press:
Walmart To Quit Selling E-Cigarettes Amid Vaping Backlash
Walmart is getting out of the vaping business. The nation’s largest retailer said Friday that it will stop selling electronic cigarettes at its namesake stores and Sam’s Clubs in the U.S. when it sells out its current inventory. (D'Innocenzio, 9/20)
The New York Times:
Walmart To End Sales Of E-Cigarettes As Vaping Concerns Mount
The decision by Walmart comes amid a drumbeat of new reports about the potential health risks of vaping that has made parents, doctors and government officials increasingly wary of the products, which are marketed as smoking-cessation devices. Vaping products account for only a small portion of Walmart’s revenue, but e-cigarette shoppers tend to be younger and more loyal customers who shop regularly and often buy other items when they come to replenish their vaping supplies. (Yaffe-Bellany, Corkery and Kaplan, 9/20)
Bloomberg:
Walmart Ban Shows Vaping’s Fall From Smoking Fix To Health Scare
Vaping has also been at the center of a growing controversy over what U.S. regulators have described as an epidemic of underage use. Last week, the Trump administration said it would take steps to remove almost all flavored e-cigarette products from the market, pending their approval by the Food and Drug Administration. (Boyle and Annett, 9/23)
USA Today:
Walmart To Stop Selling E-Cigarettes Amid Health Worries Over Vaping
Walmart joins several other corporations limiting the reach of e-cigarettes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was investigating more than 450 cases of a lung disease linked to vaping. Media giants Viacom, CBS and WarnerMedia all revealed this week that they would stop running advertisements for e-cigarettes. (Molina, 9/20)
NPR:
Walmart To Stop Selling E-Cigarettes
Earlier this year, Walmart told regulators that it would raise the minimum age for buying tobacco products to 21 and that it would stop selling fruit- and dessert-flavored e-cigarettes. Vaping products are only a part of Walmart's tobacco offerings, which include cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. Pharmacy chains Rite Aid and Walgreens this year also raised the tobacco-buying age to 21. Rite Aid said in April that it would stop selling e-cigarettes and vaping products. CVS stopped selling all tobacco products in 2014. (Selyukh, 9/20)
Online sales of some illicit cannabis-vaping products is growing.
The Wall Street Journal:
Sales Of Illicit Vaping Products Find Home Online
As concerns about the health hazards of vaping mount, a market for illicit cannabis-vaping products and the tools to create counterfeits is thriving online. On Instagram, users offer products ranging from cannabis oils to vaping devices and packaging materials. On Amazon.com Inc., third-party sellers hawk empty packaging for vape products, and on Facebook Inc.’s Marketplace, sellers offer vaping products containing tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the mind-altering ingredient in cannabis. (Hernandez, 9/20)
