Here’s an update on the ballot measures that would have affected vaping in four states, which are California, Colorado, Missouri, North Dakota
California had Prop 56, which would increase taxes on tobacco products by nearly 70%. Unfortunately, this one passed by a landslide with about 63% of people voting yes. This really sucks for California because not only is it going to make vaping way more expensive, but it’s likely to lead former smokers back to cheaper cigarettes and also put a lot of vape shops out of business.
North Dakota had Initiated Statutory Measure 4, which would increase taxes by 56% for wholesale, resulting in an estimated 400% increase for the final cost of vaping products for consumers. In contrast to California, 61% of voters overwhelmingly voted no on this one.
Colorado had Amendment 72, which would triple the excise tax on tobacco and increase the wholesale tax by 62%. It did not include electronic cigarettes but was vague enough to apply to vaping in the future. Fortunately for Colorado, the majority vote was no at 53%.
Missouri had Proposition A, which would increase state taxes on tobacco by 5%. Again, the voters chose not to increase taxes. 55% of voters said no.
image attribution: By April Sikorski from Brooklyn, USA (vote here) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Alex is a former smoker who successfully quit smoking after 14 years by switching to vaping. Now a pro-vaping advocate, Alex has become a seasoned expert with over a decade of experience in the vaping industry. Since starting his vaping journey in 2010, Alex has earned a reputation as a trusted reviewer, extensively testing all types of vape gear, including mech mods, sub-ohm tanks, RDAs, disposables, e-juices, boro devices, squonkers, dry herb vaporizers, and e-rigs. He’s also explored the craft of coil building and DIY e-juice.
Since 2015, Alex has published more than 800 in-depth articles on vaping, produced over 500 videos covering product reviews, industry news, and tips, contributed to several well-known vape publications, and hosted a popular vaping podcast featuring over 100 episodes and nearly 40 hours of content.