California Attorney General Rob Bonta said Tuesday that he is co-leading a bipartisan coalition of 25 attorneys general and the City of New York in urging major payment companies to take stronger action against unlawful sales of tobacco and nicotine products, particularly e-cigarettes, online and at brick-and-mortar stores.
The coalition sent letters to American Express, Capital One, Citigroup, Mastercard, Visa, PayPal, Stripe, Sezzle and Block (the operator of Square, Cash App, and Afterpay). The coalition said in the letters that their aim is to ”discuss the current scope of illegal e-cigarette trafficking and to work with you to halt the use of your services for unlawful transactions.”
The letters were co-led by Bonta, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday, New York Attorney General Letitia James and the City of New York. They were joined by the offices of the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and Puerto Rico.
“Illegal e-cigarette sales remain widespread, posing a serious public health concern and requiring a more robust response,” said Bonta. “Payment processors and financial service companies have a responsibility to ensure their platforms are not being used to facilitate these illegal sales. We are calling on nine major credit card processors to be part of the solution and help protect our communities—especially our kids.”
On April 15, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird led a coalition of 13 state attorneys general in a letter also urging major credit card companies to stop processing transactions tied to illegal vape sales.
Under federal law, every new tobacco product must receive authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before it can be legally marketed and sold in the United States. To date, the FDA has authorized 41 e-cigarette products.
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