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North Dakota – [Concluded] Keep Remote Sales Legal! (Oppose SB 2190)
- January 19, 2021
current status
Bill
Introduced
Failed
Senate
Passed
House
Signed by
Governor
01/26/21 – Second reading, failed to pass, yeas 3 nays 44
01/25/21 – Returned from Committee; Do Not Pass recommendation
01/20/21 – Committee hearing, 9:15 AM
01/12/21 – Introduced and referred to S. Industry, Business, and Labor Committee
SB 2190 would ban remote sales (online or mail-order) of ALL tobacco and nicotine products that aren’t approved as therapies.
While vapor products will be included in the prohibition on USPS shipping cigarettes this year, low-risk smokeless products like nicotine pouches, moist snuff, and snus are not included in the federal ban on shipping tobacco. North Dakotans (and everyone) deserve access to safer nicotine and tobacco products, and for many people who don’t live near specialty shops, remote sales are a lifeline away from smoking.
Not all consumers of vapor products have access to brick and mortar specialty stores due to their health, disabilities, or even their location. As FDA ramps up enforcement of the now finalized regulations for new tobacco products, the selection of products deemed legal by the government will be so small that many specialty stores won’t be able to legally stay open.
Losing access to both brick and mortar retailers and online sellers means that people who are searching for safer alternatives to smoking will have their options narrowly limited–not to mention the potential harm to thousands of people in any particular state who have already switched!
Meanwhile, cigarettes will remain the most visible and widely accessible tobacco product in the history of the world.
According to government data, legitimate online sellers are not a significant source of nicotine products for young people. Moreover, robust age verification platforms are considered to be more accurate than face-to-face sales. All that shipping bans accomplish is placing unnecessary barriers in front of people who are working to improve their lives.