OLYMPIA — Seven online vaping supply companies, including one licensed in Washington, were caught violating state laws that ban the sale of those products to people under 21, Attorney General Bob Ferguson said Tuesday.
Five of them — including VanVal Vapor of Spokane and Bozeman, Montana — signed agreements to comply with state laws to verify a purchaser’s age and paid fines totaling $132,000. One already was in litigation with the state and the seventh is talking with its attorney before deciding whether to sign an agreement or go to court.
Ferguson said investigators from his office went on the companies’ web sites posing as 17-year-olds by entering false birthdates and were able to buy vaping products from one company. Later they entered false names and birthdates, which would have been caught if the company had verified the information. But they were able to purchase products from all seven companies.
Washington law requires an online vaping products company to state clearly on its website that a buyer must be at least 21; to have a separate company confirm the identity; to make sure credit card information matches the ID; to get signed certification from the purchaser saying they are who they claim to be and are at least 21; to ship products in boxes marked as containing vaping products and include information in the packaging about the state’s ban on selling to minors.