USPS Says Hemp Vape Products Included in Ban on Mailing E-Cigarettes

In guidance released on Wednesday, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) said that vape devices for products like CBD cannot be shipped through the service, saying that a bill passed by Congress last year to prohibit nicotine vape cartridges from the mail applies to vaping devices for hemp.

Marijuana Moment first reported the publication of the Final Rule on Wednesday.

“It goes without saying that marijuana, hemp, and their derivatives are substances. Hence, to the extent that they may be delivered to an inhaling user through an aerosolized solution, they and the related delivery systems, parts, components, liquids, and accessories clearly fall within the [Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes to Children Act’s] scope.” – USPS, “Treatments of E-Cigarettes in the Mail,” Oct. 21, 2021

The guidance does allow the mailing of federally legal hemp products – those containing 0.3% THC or less – “to the extent that they are not incorporated into an [electronic nicotine delivery systems] product or function as a component of one.”

Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, told Marijuana Moment that “USPS never asked Congress to hand them a new unfunded mandate.” He anticipates it will take USPS “months or years” to sort through the application process to allow business-to-business sales of vape products through the mail, which is allowed under the law.

“The reality is Congress set the overly expansive language and USPS was and is statutorily obliged to apply the law as they wrote it,” he told Marijuana Moment.

“Of course, there remains an open question around how vigorously the law will be enforced, particularly around products that lack state or federal excise taxes,” he said in the report. “Punishments for violating the law can be swift and severe, so retailers should think carefully about trading a short-term buck for potential legal troubles before a federal judge.”