Retail giant 7-Eleven will cough up $1.2 million to resolve allegations that dozens of its stores ran afoul of regulations intended to protect children from a product with worrying implications.
The Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia announced that 7-Eleven agreed to the settlement after an investigation found that 16 of its stores in Washington, D.C., sold electronic smoking devices within 0.25 miles of a middle school or high school.
The rule outlawing the sale of vapes, e-cigarettes, and other aerosol or vapor-producing smoking devices went into effect in October 2022, and stores received notice of the ban several months before it became official.
Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb explained in the release why D.C. has taken strong action to curb e-cigarette use among its youth.
"Selling vapes and e-cigarettes near schools is illegal because, particularly for young people, these nicotine products are addictive and unhealthy," he said. "7-Eleven's illegal sales threatened to reverse the progress we've made reducing tobacco use amongst youth."
"Protecting the safety of our community is our top priority at the Office of the Attorney General, and that includes enforcing local laws designed to protect the health of our children," he added.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, youth in the United States are more likely to use vapes or e-cigarettes than other types of tobacco products.
The CDC says cigarettes contain a "deadly mix" of 7,000 chemicals, but the alternative e-cigarettes are hardly risk-free, particularly for children. The CDC warns that no tobacco products are safe and notes that nicotine can harm brain development. Vaping also exposes users to cancer-linked chemicals, heavy metals, and volatile organic compounds.
Meanwhile, a recent report released by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group revealed that the country discarded nearly 500,000 vapes each day in 2023 — nearly six per second.
This alarming uptick from the 4.5 vapes per second in 2022 underscores the looming health and environmental crisis that could be around the corner without a change of course. Classified as hazardous waste given the risk of nicotine contamination and fires (because of their lithium batteries), vapes are also typically made from plastics that will pollute our communities for generations.
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In addition to the settlement, the ruling stipulates that the retail chain must permanently halt the sale and marketing of all vapes and e-cigarettes near D.C. schools, provide yearly training to staff on D.C. vaping regulations, and monitor its stores for violations and report any issues to the Office of the Attorney General.
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