Nothing in a mail prohibition mentions vaping. The word arrives through a definition.
The mail prohibition was read on its own
It names cigarettes and smokeless tobacco and takes those definitions from another statute. Reading only the prohibition misses the whole point.
And the definition was read on its own
Which gives you what an electronic nicotine delivery system is and not what follows. The consequence sits in a different title.
The component clause was overlooked
Any component, liquid, part or accessory, without regard to whether it is sold separately. Selling the parts apart is the design the clause reaches.
Nicotine was treated as the trigger
The device definition covers delivery of "nicotine, flavor, or any other substance". What that means for a specific product is a determination, and assuming no nicotine means no coverage is a reading of the name rather than the text.
The therapeutic exception was read loosely
It needs FDA approval for cessation or another therapeutic purpose AND marketing and sale solely for that purpose. Both limbs.
The cigar exclusion was read as a general one
It excludes a cigar from the cigarette definition. It is not an exception to the electronic nicotine delivery system definition.
The rulemaking was assumed to say something
A rulemaking followed and this property does not summarize it. Assuming its content from the statute is the same error in a different place.
And the packaging was bought first
Which is the expensive version. A fulfillment constraint changes the economics of every order, and a container choice does not fix it.
Carrier requirements were assumed to be the same as the statute
A carrier may impose its own conditions on what it will accept, independent of what any statute requires. That is a commercial question and it has to be asked of the carrier.
Route first
Establish how the product ships, with someone qualified to read the whole scheme, before choosing a bottle. The bottle decision is cheap and reversible.
Then come back for the container
And on this shelf, ask for the polyethylene rather than taking the glass.
References
15 U.S.C. 375(7). Subparagraph (A) "means any electronic device that, through an aerosolized solution, delivers nicotine, flavor, or any other substance to the user inhaling from the device". Subparagraph (B) includes an e-cigarette, an e-hookah, an e-cigar, a vape pen, an advanced refillable personal vaporizer, an electronic pipe, and at (vii) "any component, liquid, part, or accessory of a device described in subparagraph (A), without regard to whether the component, liquid, part, or accessory is sold separately from the device". Subparagraph (C) excludes a product "approved by the Food and Drug Administration for-- (I) sale as a tobacco cessation product; or (II) any other therapeutic purpose" and "marketed and sold solely for a purpose described in clause (i)".
law.cornell.edu15 U.S.C. 375(2)(A), under which the term "cigarette" "(i) has the meaning given that term in section 2341 of title 18; and (ii) includes-- (I) roll-your-own tobacco (as defined in section 5702 of title 26); and (II) an electronic nicotine delivery system." Subparagraph (B) provides that the term "does not include a cigar (as defined in section 5702 of title 26)".
law.cornell.edu18 U.S.C. 1716E(a)(1): "All cigarettes and smokeless tobacco (as those terms are defined in section 1 of the Act of October 19, 1949, commonly referred to as the Jenkins Act) are nonmailable and shall not be deposited in or carried through the mails." The section does not define cigarette itself; it takes the definition from the Jenkins Act, codified at 15 U.S.C. 375. A rulemaking followed Pub. L. 116-260 and this property does not summarize it.
law.cornell.eduNothing in this property states whether any particular product or container is an electronic nicotine delivery system. It does not address registration, reporting or age-verification obligations, the Postal Service rulemaking that followed, state law, or whether a product containing no nicotine is within the definition. The statutory text is quoted so it can be read; the application is a determination made elsewhere.
