The attorney general's office on Wednesday ordered an online e-cigarette retailer to immediately stop selling vaping products to Massachusetts residents after an investigation found the company marketed its products to minors.
Maura Healey's office sent a cease and desist letter earlier this month to California-based Kilo E-Liquids after state investigators determined Kilo "does not adequately verify the age of customers purchasing vaping products, which include flavored nicotine e-liquids such as 'green apple candy' and 'strawberry milk,' from its website."
The minimum legal age to purchase tobacco or vaping products in Massachusetts is 21. State law requires online vendors to either use a commercially available database to verify the age and identity of consumers or use a method of shipping that requires the signature of a person who is of the minimum legal age before the package is delivered.
"E-cigarette companies have taken a page out of the playbook of the tobacco companies to get young people addicted to their products," Healey said. "If these retailers are operating in our state, they must comply with Massachusetts laws and keep their products away from children."
The cease and desist letter released Wednesday by the attorney general's office is dated Feb. 5. Later this week, Healey will deliver a keynote address at the Vaping and Our Youth conference in Danvers "focused on how the use of vaping products and e-cigarettes has become an epidemic among young people."
Last summer, Healey launched an investigation against Juul, the largest vaping company in the country, to determine whether it intentionally markets to minors and whether it tracks underage use of its products.
