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How We Source These Vape Laws

Compiled by Nathan Shaw. Last reviewed October 2026. How we source this

Every page on this site cites the law or official directory behind it. This page sets out which sources are used, in what order of preference, what happens when they disagree, and what the different kinds of vape ban actually mean.

Who compiles this

These pages are compiled and reviewed by Nathan Shaw. They are a plain-language summary of published law and official guidance, written for people trying to work out what they can legally buy or sell. They are not written by a lawyer and are not legal advice. For a decision that matters — a licence, a shipment, a prosecution — read the statute itself or speak to a lawyer in that jurisdiction.

Where the data comes from

Every page cites the sources behind it. Three kinds of source are used, in this order of preference:

• Primary state and federal sources. Statutes, agency directories, and official notices — for example a Department of Revenue product directory, an Attorney General certification page, or the enrolled text of a bill. Where a page says a ban is in force from a particular date, that date comes from a primary source unless the page says otherwise.
• Academic and public-health trackers. Principally the Public Health Law Center 50-state review and its State E-Cigarette Registry Bill Map, produced with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, plus Truth Initiative, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and the Tax Foundation.
• International sources for country pages: the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control and the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction country profiles.

What we do when sources disagree

Where a tracker and a primary source conflict, the primary source wins and the page says what it relies on. Where a state is recorded as having passed a law but no primary source was confirmed for this snapshot, the page says so explicitly rather than implying a certainty that is not there. Retailer blogs and industry press are used to find leads, never as the cited basis for a legal statement.

What "vape ban" means here

States restrict vaping in several different ways, and they are easy to confuse:

• Product directory or registry laws. The state publishes a list of vapes that may be sold, usually limited to products the FDA has authorised or that have an application under review. Anything not on the list is illegal to sell, which in practice removes most flavoured disposables. This is the most common form of "vape ban" and it is not the same as a flavour ban.
• Flavour bans. A prohibition on selling flavoured products, sometimes including menthol and sometimes not.
• Product-specific prohibitions. Bans on defined categories — for example products shaped like other objects, products containing particular substances, or products manufactured in particular countries.
• Local rules. Cities and counties often go further than the state. Major local restrictions are summarised where sources list them, but local coverage is not complete.

Nothing on these pages overrides federal law, which applies everywhere in the United States: you must be 21 or older to buy, retailers must check ID for anyone who looks under 30, and only FDA-authorised e-cigarettes may lawfully be sold.

How the Vape Hate score works

The Vape Hate score on each state page is our own rating, not an official measure, and no source publishes it. We show the arithmetic so you can disagree with it. It counts what a state bans: the higher the number, the harder that state makes it to buy and use a vape.

• Product bans — up to 50 points. A state where only products on an approved list can be sold scores 50. A state that allows only unflavored products scores 40. A list of banned products, or rules about packaging and sourcing rather than the products themselves, scores 25. An approved-list ban that has passed but is not yet in force scores 20. No product ban scores 0.
• Flavor bans — up to 30 points. A full ban on flavored vapes scores 30, a partial ban 15, a limited one 8, and no flavor ban scores 0.
• Tax — up to 20 points. A state vape excise tax scores 15; no excise tax scores 0. We do not scale this by the rate, because states tax by wholesale price, retail price, or volume, and those are not directly comparable.

Scores of 75 and above are labelled Severe, 50 to 74 Heavy, 25 to 49 Moderate, and below 25 Minimal. Two states with the same score can be restricted in quite different ways, so the score is a starting point for comparison and the sections on each state page are the actual answer.

How often this is updated

The current snapshot is dated October 2026, and every page carries that date. This area of law moves quickly — directories are revised monthly, effective dates slip, and laws are challenged in court — so a page that is more than a few months old should be treated as a starting point rather than the last word. The date shown on each page is the date the page was last reviewed, not the date it was first written.

Corrections

If something here is wrong or out of date, we want to know. Corrections that come with a primary source are acted on fastest.

Compiled October 2026 for the Vape Law Maps project. Not legal advice. Laws change; confirm with official sources before acting.