House Bill 968, presented by Representative David Hawk, levies a 10% tax on all open-system vapor products and bans non-FDA-approved products. 

Ultimately, the bill creates a registry of approved vapes and ensures that products sold in stores are only those deemed acceptable by the FDA. 

“The market is being flooded by illicit vapes that are overwhelmingly manufactured and exported from China,” Hawk said. 

The Tennessee Smoke Free Association tried to fight this bill by speaking with the State House on March 3.

In the 45-minute debate, TSFA President Danny Gillis said the organization’s goal is to get people off of nicotine for good. If someone has been smoking cigarettes for 20 years and wants to quit, one option is to switch to vaping. This ensures that they ingest less nicotine per puff and ultimately helps users quit altogether, Gillis said.

“My job is to make sure somebody can live a longer life and a healthier life,” Gillis said.  

The TSFA’s primary goal is preventing addiction. When an addiction has already started, that’s when vapes are useful, TSFA’s director of communications Teresa Livezey said. As the owner of two vape stores in Tennessee, she discourages people from buying their first vapes. 

The FDA has a list of approved vapor products. As of March 15, 2025, the document contains 34 selections under three brands: Logic, NJOY and Vuse.

Logic is owned by parent company Japan Tobacco, a tobacco company that owns almost 43% of the cigarette market in Japan. It sells popular cigarette brands including American Spirits, Camel and Winston.

Certain Vuse products also made the FDA’s list. Reynolds American, a subsidiary of Japan Tobacco, owns Vuse. The corporation owns brands such as Newport, VELO and Lucky Strike. 

With the passing of House Bill 968, all products other than those on the official registry and those pending FDA approval would be removed from stores, potentially putting thousands of vape shops out of business.  

“This legislation is crafted by big tobacco to basically shudder and take us off the market,” Gillis said.

David Hawk, father to a 13-year-old, shared concerns about seeing vapes showing up in schools as low as middle schools.

“Our school systems, our court systems, our juvenile courts are having incredible problems with the prevalence of vape products,” Hawk said.

During the March 3 debate, Gillis emphasized that vapor products are not meant for children. Underage consumption should be handled by the education system, not by overbearing government regulations, Gillis said.

“The flavors are the problem, and the kids are trying to find them,” Gillis said. “This is an adult product, make no mistake. This is not meant for kids.” 

Bella Givens, a junior at MTSU, has been vaping on and off since eighth grade. She purchased her first JUUL from an older classmate for $5. Even her 14-year-old sister sees vapes and similar devices pop up in school.

“I think the issue with vapes in schools is that kids aren’t buying them from stores,” Givens said. “They’re buying them from upperclassmen.”

Givens is optimistic about the bill, predicting that minors will follow the lead of adults who quit.

“I could see it working eventually,” Givens said. “Kids could see older people cutting down.”

With a potential ban in the future, Givens considered quitting. But other nicotine products, like ZYN and VELO, are becoming more popular, giving nicotine users more options than cigarettes and vapes.

“If they get rid of my favorite brands and flavors, I might try and quit, but there’s so many other forms of nicotine, it’s hard to get away from,” Givens said. “Especially when there’s a vape store in every strip mall.”

In Nashville, Gillis suggested leaving menthol and tobacco products in convenience stores while vape shops should check IDs at the door. Along with this, Gillis suggests that any store desiring to sell nicotine products should have a required license. This could prevent the distribution of vapor products without regulation and cut down underage purchasing. 

“There’s a lot of solutions to this complex problem, but it’s not prohibition,” Gillis said. “The worst thing you could have is a prohibition right now.” 

The Finance, Ways and Means Committee passed the bill on March 10 with a 12-1 majority. House Bill 968 has not yet been added to the discussion calendar.

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