Hawai’i Attorney General urges Shopify to crackdown on e-cigarettes as part of bipartisan coalition

Hawaiʻi Attorney General Anne Lopez joined a bipartisan coalition of 25 attorneys general and the City of New York in sending a letter to Shopify, urging the multinational e-commerce company to take stronger action against merchants that use its services to sell illegal tobacco products, particularly e-cigarettes.

Shopify, which is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, describes itself as “a commerce platform that helps you sell online and in person,” and explains that “entrepreneurs, retailers and global brands use Shopify to make sales, run stores and grow their businesses.”

Shopify’s policies already prohibit merchants from using its services for unlawful activities and Shopify has previously terminated e-cigarette sellers that were brought to the company’s attention by the California Attorney General’s Office on April 15.

However, in the letter, the coalition highlights that a more comprehensive solution is necessary because merchants continue to use Shopify’s services to sell illegal e-cigarettes. Accordingly, the coalition requests a meeting with Shopify to collaborate and exchange ideas on what a comprehensive solution could entail.

“Illegal e-cigarette sellers continue to use Shopify’s platform to reach consumers, including our keiki,” Hawaiʻi Deputy Attorney General Chelsea Okamoto said in a press release.

“We’re urging Shopify to stop the sale of illegal and harmful products at the source and cooperate with our coalition in protecting the well-being of our communities.”

In the letter, the coalition: 

• Identifies 29 illegal e-cigarette websites that are currently hosted on Shopify’s platform. This list is not exhaustive.
• Encloses an exhibit identifying over 200 additional websites known to sell illegal tobacco products. This list is not exhaustive.
• Writes that it would undertake some of the effort needed to further identify illegal sellers to Shopify, if Shopify and the coalition entered into a cooperative agreement.

E-cigarettes are highly addictive and pose significant health risks, particularly to youth and are therefore subject to strict regulation.

States in the coalition, as well as local governments within the states, have passed laws to mitigate the sale of e-cigarettes. For example, the City and County of Honolulu, the County of Hawai‘i and the County of Maui have passed “trigger ban” bills to end flavored tobacco sales in their communities.

At the federal level, every new tobacco product, such as an e-cigarette, must receive an order from the Food and Drug Administration authorizing its marketing and sale in the United States.

To date, the FDA has approved only 39 e-cigarette products, none in any flavor other than tobacco and menthol. E-cigarettes that have not received approval from the FDA, which constitute essentially all e-cigarettes offered by online sellers, are deemed “adulterated.”

Federal law prohibits the receipt or delivery in interstate commerce of any adulterated tobacco product, and delivery or proffered delivery of adulterated tobacco products is accordingly unlawful under United States law.

Joining Attorney General Lopez in sending the letter to Shopify, which is co-led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the City of New York, are the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.