Vape Bans: E-Cigarette Restrictions in the U.S. and Worldwide

Government attitudes toward vaping and nicotine vary. In the United Kingdom, vaping is essentially encouraged by government health agencies. Because smoking creates a costly burden for the UK’s National Health Service, the country stands to save lives and money if smokers switch to e-cigarettes.

Many other countries also allow a regulated vaping market, but are less enthusiastic about the practice. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has had authority over vapor products since 2016, but has refused to create a plain system of standards for e-cigarettes and e-liquids. In recent years, some U.S. states have imposed flavor and online sales bans. Canada somewhat followed the U.K. model for a short time, but has recently imposed nicotine-strength limits and extreme flavor restrictions.

There are more than 40 countries that have some type of ban on vaping—either on possession and use, sales, or importation, or a combination. What we have attempted here is to list U.S. state flavor and online sales bans, and the sales and use bans imposed in other countries.

The FDA has federal authority to regulate vaping products. In September 2020 the agency began reviewing Premarket Tobacco Applications (PMTAs), and has signalled it will not authorize flavored products without extraordinary evidence. Whether the agency will be successful creating an unwritten standard that eliminates legal flavored products (except tobacco and menthol) may be determined by federal courts.

Most vape bans in the U.S. happen at the state and local levels. And while a few California cities—notably San Francisco—have banned sales of all vaping products, most American vape restrictions involve flavors and online sales. There are only a few of each, despite the large number of vaping bans that have been proposed in state legislatures in recent years—proof that grassroots opposition can stop bad legislation.

Arkansas – online sales ban
Tobacco permits issued to Arkansas businesses only allow face-to-face transactions, so online sales are prohibited

California – flavor ban on in-store sales
California now bans the in-store sale of vaping products in flavors other than tobacco—with or without nicotine. The statewide law does not ban online sales, but some localities have stricter laws.

California voters approved the ban on Nov. 8, 2022. It is being challenged in court, but on Dec. 12, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant an injunction that would have halted the new law while the lawsuit against the state is settled

Georgia – online sales ban
Georgia allows only face-to-face retail transactions of vaping products, so online sales are prohibited

Maine – online sales ban
Maine bans online sales, except between licensed businesses

Massachusetts – flavor ban
The first statewide flavor ban was passed in late 2019 by Massachusetts. It includes all tobacco products, and prohibits sales of all vape flavors except tobacco

New Jersey – flavor ban
New Jersey’s ban covers all flavors except tobacco. Legislators decided not to ban menthol cigarettes after realizing how much tax revenue the state would lose. The governor signed the flavor ban and an increased tax on vaping products, but vetoed the attached 20 mg/mL nicotine-strength limit

New York – flavor ban + online sales ban
The New York flavor ban, which covers all flavors except tobacco, was passed in April 2020. The state also adopted an online sales ban (of all vaping products) at the same time

Oregon – online sales ban
Oregon bans online sales, except between licensed businesses

Rhode Island – flavor ban
In March 2020, then-governor Gina Raimondo bypassed the state legislature and used the Department of Health to create a permanent ban on all vape flavors except tobacco

South Dakota – online sales ban
Shipping of all tobacco products (including vapes) is prohibited in South Dakota

Utah – online sales ban
Utah bans online sales, except between licensed businesses

Vermont – online sales ban
Vermont bans online sales, except between licensed businesses

Major cities with flavor bans include Chicago, IL; Los Angeles (takes effect in 2023), San Diego, Sacramento, Oakland and San Jose, CA; and Boulder, CO. Hundreds of smaller cities and counties—mostly in California—have flavor bans, as do some larger cities whose bans have since been superseded by state bans (like New York City and Newark, NJ)

Complete bans on vaping product sales have been adopted by San Francisco and some smaller California cities

In some nations, vaping is completely illegal, including both sales and possession. Prohibition is most common in Asia, the Middle East, and South America. Australia has a bizarre prescription-only model for vaping products, and unauthorized importation can result in huge fines. In Japan, nicotine vaping products are illegal, but heated tobacco products like IQOS are completely legal and widely used.

Some countries have outright bans on use and sales, others just ban sales, and some ban only nicotine-containing products. In many countries, the laws are ignored and black markets flourish. In others, they’re enforced (but those still have black markets too). If a country is not listed, vaping is either allowed and regulated, or there is no specific law governing e-cigarettes (as of now anyway).

This isn’t meant as a definitive legal guide for traveling vapers. If you’re visiting an unfamiliar country you should first check with an up-to-date official source like your country’s state department, or the travel bureau of the country you’re visiting.

Antigua and Barbuda
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Argentina
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Australia
Legal to use, illegal to possess nicotine without a doctor’s prescription. Importing nicotine illegally can be punished with fines of up to $222,000. Penalties for possession vary from one state to the next, but can also be quite severe

Bangladesh
Bangladesh currently has no laws or regulations specific to vaping. However, in 2021 the government announced it would update the country’s tobacco control law with an outright ban on the sales of e-cigarettes

Bhutan
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Brazil
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Brunei Darussalam
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Cambodia
Banned: illegal to use, illegal to sell

Chile
Legal to use, illegal to sell (except approved medical products)

Colombia
Legal to use, illegal to sell

East Timor
Believed to be banned

Egypt
Legal to use, illegal to sell—although the country may be on the verge of regulating vaping products

Ethiopia
Believed legal to use, illegal to sell

Gambia
Believed illegal to use, illegal to sell

Hong Kong (a Special Administrative Region of China)
Legal to use, illegal to sell since 2022

India
Legal to use, illegal to sell. In September 2019, the Indian central government banned sales of vaping products. The government, well aware that 100 million Indians smoke and that tobacco kills nearly a million people a year, did not make any moves to reduce access to cigarettes. Not coincidentally, the Indian government owns a large share of the country’s largest tobacco company

Iran
Believed legal to use, illegal to sell

Jamaica
Legal to use, illegal to sell nicotine-containing products without a medical license

Japan
Legal to use, legal to sell devices and zero-nicotine e-liquid, but illegal to sell nicotine-containing liquid (although individuals can import nicotine-containing products with some restrictions). Heated tobacco products (HTPs) like IQOS are legal and extremely popular

Kuwait
Believed legal to use, illegal to sell

Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos)
Illegal to use, illegal to sell

Lebanon
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Macau (a Special Administrative Region of China)
Possibly legal to use, illegal to sell. On Dec. 5, 2022 a law banning the manufacture, distribution, sale, import, export, and transport in and out of Macau of all vaping products will take effect. While personal use may be technically legal, there seems to be no way to acquire products without violating the import or transport bans

Malaysia
Legal to use, illegal to sell nicotine-containing products. Although consumer sales of nicotine-containing products is illegal, Malaysia has a thriving vaping market. Authorities occasionally raid retailers and confiscate products. Sales of all vaping products (even without nicotine) are banned outright in the states of Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Penang and Terengganu

Mauritius
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Mexico
Probably legal to use, illegal to sell. The Mexican president issued a decree banning sales of all vapes and heated tobacco products in May 2022. The law includes nicotine-free products

Myanmar
Believed to be banned

Nepal
Legal to use, possibly illegal to sell (although the government itself seems unsure)

Nicaragua
Believed illegal to use, illegal to sell

North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea)
Banned

Norway
Nicotine-containing vapes are legal to use, but illegal to import or sell

Oman
Believed legal to use, illegal to sell

Palau
Banned: illegal to use, illegal to sell (as of May 29, 2023)

Panama
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Qatar
Banned: illegal to use, illegal to sell

Seychelles
Legal to use, illegal to sell. However, the country announced in 2019 its intention to legalize and regulate e-cigarettes

Singapore
Banned: illegal to use, illegal to sell. As of 2018, possession of vapes is a crime, punishable by fines and even prison time. However, the threat of prosecution doesn’t prevent a thriving black market

Sri Lanka
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Suriname
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Syria
Banned: illegal to use, illegal to sell

Taiwan (Republic of China)
On Jan. 12, 2023, Taiwan passed a ban on sales and use of e-cigarettes. The law will take effect 30 days after it is published by the government—probably in February.

Thailand
Believed legal to use, illegal to sell. Thailand has earned a reputation for enforcing its ban on importation and sales of vaping products with several high-profile incidents in recent years, including detaining and even deporting tourists caught vaping

Timor-Leste
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Turkey
Legal to use, illegal to import. Importation of vaping products is illegal in Turkey, and when the country reaffirmed its ban in 2017, the World Health Organization issued a press release cheering the decision. But Turkey’s laws are conflicting, and there is a vaping market and a vaping community in Turkey

Turkmenistan
Believed legal to use, illegal to sell

Uganda
Legal to use, illegal to sell

United States
Legal to use, legal to sell—but sales of products not authorized by the FDA became technically illegal as of Sept. 9, 2021. Although no state has banned sales of vaping products outright, many have bans on flavored products or online sales. Some California cities, notably San Francisco, have banned sales of all e-cigarettes

Uruguay
Legal to use, illegal to sell

Vatican City
Believed to be banned

Venezuela
Legal to use, believed illegal to sell, unless approved as medical products

Our list is extensive, but maybe not definitive. Laws change frequently, and there is no central repository for information on worldwide vaping laws that is updated in real time. While our list includes some original research, these are the primary sources:

• The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (Knowledge-Action-Change)
• Tobacco Control Laws (Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids)
• Institute for Global Tobacco Control (Johns Hopkins University)

We welcome any new information you may have. If you know of a law that has changed, or a new regulation that affects our list, please make a comment and we will update the list.