Congress is to Ban Online Vape Mail Deliveries

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by Jeffrey Buckley

Updated: January 31, 2023

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protect vape mail delivery right your voice counts

The United States Congress is on the verge of passing an omnibus spending bill that contains language that would severely restrict online vape sales and deliveries.

The spending bill is part of a larger bill that includes many major spending initiatives from the federal government. House Democrats recently added wording from the Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes to Children Act to the spending bill.

If passed, the bill would prevent the United States Postal Service from accepting and delivering vaping products bought online. It would also make vaping products part of the PACT Act (Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act).

The PACT Act requires online retailers to collect state/local taxes before shipping orders, register with the federal government, and provide detailed information on a monthly basis to the tax department of each state it ships too – including the names and addresses of each customer.

Vape Woman

Table Of Contents

  1. What You Can Do
  2. The Language of the Bill
  3. What Happens If The Bill Passes

Time to Take Action

Contact Senator McConnell and urge him to reject a ban on mailing vapor products through the USPS!

  • DC Office: (202) 224-2541
  • Twitter: @senatemajldr

CASAA has learned that the vape mail ban language is being added to the 2021 omnibus budget bill. The budget bill is “must-pass” and the next scheduled vote is on Dec. 16.

With Congress set to recess before the end of 2020, time is running out to stop the language about banned vaping products removed from the omnibus spending bill. There is no hope to stop the bill from being passed – it is too important – but you can still write to your congressman or woman to demand that restrictions to the sale and delivery of vaping products be removed from the bill’s wording.

The first thing that concerned vapers can do is to write their Representative or Senator to have the language removed from the bill. There are many things that you can say to convince them to fight for the rights of vapers in the US. CASAA and other vaping advocacy groups have prepared email templates that you can use to send to your Representative or Senator.


Even though the bill has already been passed by the Senate, several important Senators, like Mitch McConnell still have the power to remove the wording about vapor products from the bill. Anyone who is from Kentucky – McConnell’s home state – would have an outsized impact on the Senator to get the language removed.

National Call to Action organized the form we can use to help stop them.
Specifically, you can mention that:

      Removing vapor products from being delivered by the United States Postal Service goes against the mission of the USPS outlined in the Constitution
      Private delivery companies (FedEx, UPS) are not obligated to make deliveries to everyone and everywhere like the USPS
      Vaping products are life-saving devices that can potentially help people quit the far deadlier habit of smoking cigarettes
      Mention that vape retailers already operate under strict regulations that prevent underage sales and employ age verification

As we can see for now, the bill gets more reactions and serious steps form Senate

What the Bill Stands for and What It Will Do

The Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes to Children Act was originally a standalone bill. It was introduced by Senator Dianne Feinstein of California in the summer of 2019. The bill was co-sponsored by several Republican members and still enjoys bipartisan support. This support is what would’ve made the bill difficult to defeat if it had come to a vote on its own.

But now, House Democrats have added it to a larger budget bill that must pass to keep the government running. This means that the bill must pass if Congress wishes to avoid another government shutdown, which, during this time, is something that no one – Democrats or Republicans – wants.

The original Preventing Online Sales Act sought to:

  • Age verify all online customers
  • Make it a requirement that an adult be present to sign for any delivery
  • Mark all parcels as “tobacco products”
  • Make retailers comply with local and state tax rules
This last point is what most threatens small businesses. The Preventing Online Sales Act would also put vapor products under the purview of the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act or PACT. PACT is a federal law-enforcement initiative that wants to limit the interstate trafficking of illegal cigarettes.

Members of the House want to include vapor products in PACT as a way to make it harder for retailers to make online sales and send them to customers.

The burden of the inclusion of vaping products in PACT would be enough to put most local retailers out of business, which is why it is important to do something about removing the language from the bill.

What Happens If The Bill Passes

The consequences to vapers and the vaping industry would be many if the House passes the bill with its current language intact. With the United States Postal Service banned from delivering vaping products, shipping rates are sure to increase, putting further pressure on both consumers and retailers.


The inclusion of vaping products as possible contraband under PACT would force retailers to conform to onerous and costly regulations that would surely cut into their bottom line. They could face punishing fines and penalties if they do not register with the government or if they fail to meet the standards put forth by PACT on tobacco and vaping retailers.

For these reasons and more YOU must ACT NOW TO GET THE LANGUAGE REMOVED FROM BILL S.1253.

Published: December 22, 2020Updated: January 31, 2023
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Jeffrey Buckley

I was a smoker for over 25 years. In this time I also earned my medical degree with a specialization in addiction treatment and counseling. That period has led me to vaping, my interest started around 2011. I’m fighting the tide of hysteria and dis-information around vaping that emanates from various fronts legislative, cultural and scientific. Having scientific councils support, I’m happy to contribute my thoughts, articles, and expertise.

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