Utahns cross state lines to buy flavored vape products

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — With the state’s ban on flavored vape products in effect, Utahns are crossing state lines to buy their favorite flavored nicotine brands.  

Over the course of 10 minutes on Monday afternoon at the Juicity Vapor shop in Evanston, Wyoming, three cars with Utah license plates pulled into the parking lot. They were filled with people from Weber County, Utah County, and Sanpete County. They were all in Wyoming for one reason: flavored vape products.  

“I went to buy some more at the shop that I normally frequent. It was completely shut down,” one Utah County man told ABC4. “It was kind of a shock, so I drove up to Evanston.”  

He said the drive took about an hour and a half. He added: “I’m 45 years old and I’ve got to drive out of state to buy flavored nicotine. If I want to kill my body with diet soda, that’s totally fine.”  

Another customer, this time from Ogden, walked through the shop’s doors just minutes later. “I don’t want menthol or tobacco,” Samantha Giroux stated. “I feel like they kind of screwed me.”  

While in the store, she stocked up on some of her favorites.  “I bought eight bottles of juice, 100 milligrams, and one box of atomizers just to keep us going,” she said through a laugh.  

Buying in bulk seemed to be the theme of the day. The Utah County man also stocked up. “Two months of nicotine because an hour and fifteen minutes, an hour and a half one way is still quite a trip, but it’s a nice drive,” he stated. “I don’t want to do this every week.”  

“If anything, we’ve tripled our sales,” store manager Austin Carrico told ABC4. “It’s just been a whole different ballgame.”  

He said the impact of the ban was felt immediately at the shop. “I didn’t expect that when that bill ended up going into effect that the next morning I would have almost 10 cars in my parking lot running in here at nine o’clock.”  

This past weekend, he said there was a line out the door, but it’s not just the weekends that are busy.

“It’s pretty much been every day,” Carrico stated. “It hasn’t stopped.”

He explained that to keep up with the new demand, the store has increased staffing and is getting a new, third cash register. He told ABC4 that while it’s good for business, he feels bad for Utah shops that might not be able to keep their doors open.