CASAA

TAKE ACTION: CASAA represents consumers of low risk smoking alternatives. The more registered members we have, the stronger our influence with lawmakers & media. Add the strength of your voice by joining today! #WeVapeWeVote #QuitLying #VapingSavesLives casaa.org/join-casaa

Dear Members, Last July, CASAA reached out to our members and allies with an urgent plea for funding. We spent the summer and into the fall approaching potential donors, but fell short of our goal. In turn, CASAA continued cutting costs to the point that we were no longer able to support our small staff of two paid employees. Since August of 2024, CASAA is completely run by volunteers. We have secured funding to enable us to continue our legislative advocacy efforts until August of this year. But beyond that, we do not expect enough future support to continue in any meaningful way. It is with mixed emotions that we are taking this opportunity to announce that 2025 will be CASAA’s last year of active engagements. While we will be ceasing our legislative advocacy at the end of August, our website, CASAA.org, remains a valuable educational resource documenting the history of vaping, explaining tobacco harm reduction, and celebrating the consumer-led revolution in adoption of safer nicotine products. CASAA will use some of our remaining funds to keep the website active, although we anticipate transforming it into a legacy site. This means that information contained on the site will be pared down so that the site will require little maintenance. Although we have gratefully received feedback from fellow advocates and industry leaders praising our efforts and noting the significance of our role in the consumer-led tobacco harm reduction movement, those accolades are rarely accompanied by financial support. For the better part of a decade, CASAA has articulated this dissonance by saying that it is absolutely appropriate for businesses to devote most or all of their advocacy budget to state and national trade groups. While industry support has made up a significant portion of our funding, it was never expected that shops and manufacturers would pay for everything. Being supported by our consumer membership has allowed us to remain independent in our policy positions and advocacy messages that support affordable and legal access to safer alternatives to smoking. But that independence is fragile, and we experienced the consequences from bucking the narrative of the largest tobacco companies when we opposed policies that ban sales of unauthorized products -- products that still make up more than 90% of the safer nicotine market. Since 2009, CASAA has been a tireless voice of and for consumers who switched away from combustion to safer, smoke-free nicotine products. We have done this work on a shoestring, which is a testament to the power of our stories. CASAA has represented our members in city halls, state legislatures, and federal regulatory bodies, as well as shared the consumer view at professional conferences and in the media. We have brought to our work the heart and soul that only comes from genuine grassroots advocacy. Consmers are being recognized as a vital part of the debate over the responsible regulation of less risky tobacco and nicotine products, which is a pillar of CASAA’s mission. We are not making this announcement from a place of desperation or futility. This is not the end, but merely a step in the evolution of consumers’ awareness, acceptance, and access to safer nicotine products and a healthier future. Thank you for standing up for tobacco harm reduction! Sincerely, Alex Clark, Executive Director, CASAA

📢CALL TO ACTION: SOUTH CAROLINA📢 A bill (S.287) known to advocates as “PMTA Registry” legislation has passed the state senate and is now being considered in the house. If enacted, this law would effectively make the state of South Carolina an enforcement arm of cigarette companies and the Food and Drug Administration, empowering state authorities to enforce the disastrous federal anti-vaping regulations. This would put hundreds of independent vape shops out of business, hundreds of workers out of jobs, and thousands of South Carolina residents at risk of returning to smoking, or delaying attempts at quitting. Please take a minute to make a call to your state representative. You can find their info on CASAA’s Legislator Lookup page. Also send an email to your lawmakers urging them to oppose S.287! Link: casaa.org/call-to-action…

Utahns cross state lines to buy flavored vape products abc4.com/news/local-new…

Actual TN ban update

I just published an editorial at @Vaping360 responding to a recent FOX News interview with David Oliveira, an ex-CTP employee who advocated for a punitive "boots on the ground ... city by city, state by state" approach to fight unauthorized vaping products.

📢CALL TO ACTION UPDATE: OKLAHOMA📢 SB1102 has passed committees in both the Senate and the House! This law would effectively make the state of Oklahoma an enforcement arm of cigarette companies and the FDA, empowering state authorities to enforce the disastrous federal anti-vaping regulations. This would put hundreds of independent vape shops out of business, hundreds of workers out of jobs, and thousands of Oklahoma residents at risk of returning to smoking, or delaying attempts at quitting. Please take a minute to send an email to your lawmakers urging them to oppose SB 1102! LINK: casaa.org/call-to-action…

⚠️HEADS UP: WASHINGTON⚠️ New bills have been introduced and referred to committees that are a direct attack on low risk alternatives to smoking, allegedly to "protect youth," despite the dramatic decline in youth vaping and tobacco use. HB2068/SB5803 would ban flavors (all tobacco products and nicotine/nicotine-free vapor products,) ban nicotine analogs (nicotine alternatives,) and increase the wholesale tax on all tobacco and vapor products to a whopping 95%! Link: legiscan.com/WA/bill/HB2068…

Highly recommend this new book from the renowned pioneer of traditional harm reduction Mark Tyndall, who has taken a major step forward as a full-throated advocate for the application of HR to combustible tobacco products.

📢 CALL TO ACTION: TENNESSEE📢 A bill (SB 763/HB 968) known to advocates as “PMTA Registry” legislation has been passed in the Senate and is now on the House Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for TOMORROW, May 8, 2025! 🔥 If enacted, this law would effectively make the state of Tennessee an enforcement arm of cigarette companies and the Food and Drug Administration, empowering state authorities to enforce the disastrous federal anti-vaping regulations. This would put hundreds of independent vape shops out of business, hundreds of workers out of jobs, and thousands of Tennessee residents at risk of returning to smoking, or delaying attempts at quitting. Please take a minute to send an email to your lawmakers urging them to oppose this bill! TAKE ACTION NOW: casaa.org/call-to-action…

This Call to Action has been tabled BUT that doesn't mean it can't come back. Be sure to follow us on social media and sign up at casaa.org for early Call to Action email alerts!

📢CALL TO ACTION: NEW MEXICO📢 If enacted, SB 20 would nearly DOUBLE the wholesale tax on vapor products from 25% to 40%. This bill has passed through the Senate and is now moving in the House. The next hearing is expected to be in the House Taxation and Revenue Committee. Prior to the next committee hearing in the House, please take a minute to send an email to your lawmakers urging them to oppose SB 20! TAKE ACTION NOW: casaa.org/call-to-action…

New York State AG Sues Major Vape Distributors New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed a lawsuit against 13 vaping businesses, charging they illegally market, sell and ship vapes, violating state and federal law. ow.ly/61N250V4HUW

📢CALL TO ACTION: RHODE ISLAND📢 With your SUPPORT, S. 543 would provide an EXEMPTION from Rhode Island’s flavor ban for vape shops and ALLOW them to sell flavored products. This bill has a companion in the House, HB 5239, which has been “held for further study” in the House Corporations committee. Support for S. 543 is VITAL as the House bill is likely to remain stalled. Take a moment today and contact your lawmakers urging them to SUPPORT S. 543 and Ocean Staters who are using flavored products to quit smoking and improve their health! TAKE ACTION NOW: casaa.org/call-to-action…

France Becomes Second EU Country to Ban Disposable Vapes The French Parliament has passed a law prohibiting the sale of disposable vapes. The ban follows adoption of a similar law in Belgium in January. ow.ly/SYgX50V0sp7

Maybe after horrifyingly expanding the war on drugs, @realDonaldTrump will save vaping marijuanamoment.net/trump-says-hes…

Will Martin Makary’s FDA listen to the evidence on e-cigarettes? reason.org/commentary/wil… via @ReasonFdn

Piece in @CStoreDecisions on the state-level battles, featuring scorching quotes from our @JMacNYC. cstoredecisions.com/california-pro…

"Our attendance is understandably down this year, which will have an impact on the Society’s finances for the rest of this year and potentially into 2026." SRNT's purest members created a bubble for themselves by banning tobacco industry researchers from attending. Reap and sow.

I have officially been #smokefree 10 years as of today thanks to vaping! Boy has vaping changed my life for the better! I've met some absolutely amaze ballz people, got my health in check (beside some blood clots from a jab), and been able to finance my life. Thank you @GrimmGreen @TheVapingBogan @Mike_Vapes @DJLsbVapes @VapinGreek @pbusardo & Especially @VapnFagan who talked me into my 1st setup. Also everyone else i cant name here, but you know. You all have been a big influence & inspiration. I would not have started my business without all of you. Thank you for everything you do, & I wish you all nothing but the best! #VapingSavesLives #TobaccoHarmReduction #AdultsLikeFlavors #VapingIsNotSmoking