Shopify bans all e-cigarette sales as AG Brown, 24 colleagues force accountability

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Attorney General Brown welcomed Shopify’s decision to ban all vaping products from its e-commerce platform, a direct result of the November 2025 multistate demand for stronger safeguards.   

E-cigarettes are highly addictive and pose significant health risks, particularly to youth, and are therefore subject to strict regulation. States in the coalition, and local governments within the states, have passed laws to restrict the sale of e-cigarettes.  

“Our coalition of attorneys general asked Shopify to remove these dangerous products, and they did. They put young lives at risk, trading profit for addiction. We refuse to let e-commerce platforms profit off the addiction of our youth, and will fight to ensure that every other platform does what Shopify did,” said Attorney General Derek Brown.  

At the federal level, every new tobacco product, including an e-cigarette, must receive an order from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before it can be legally marketed or sold in the United States. To date, the FDA has authorized 45 specific e-cigarette products, all of which are for adult smokers only. E-cigarettes lacking FDA marketing approval, which include virtually all products sold by online sellers, are classified as “adulterated” under Federal law.  Federal law prohibits the receipt or delivery in interstate commerce of adulterated tobacco products, making such sales on online platforms like Shopify unlawful. 

The coalition included 25 attorneys general and the City of New York. Joining them were the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.