Taxing and regulating e-cigarettes like tobacco is bad public policy

The District of Columbia City Council recently held hearings on the proposed Vapor Product Amendment Act of 2015. The act calls for electronic cigarettes — or e-cigs — to be taxed at 70 percent of their wholesale price — the same rate as other tobacco products in the District. This misguided move by public officials to tax and regulate e-cigs will hurt small businesses and cost money in the long run.

The District isn’t alone in its quest to extract revenue from the activity known as “vaping.” Twenty-two states have introduced legislation seeking to tax e-cigs or the nicotine liquid used in e-cigs. Only two states, Minnesota and North Carolina, have laws in place taxing the sale of e-cigs.