INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Republican legislative leaders say they want to unwind stiff regulations they imposed on Indiana’s vaping industry, which created a stranglehold on the burgeoning market for one company and prompted an FBI investigation.
The law, which is subject to a legal challenge, was passed in 2015 ostensibly to ensure that the nicotine-laced liquid consumed through vaping met safety standards. But it was amended last year in a way that effectively gave a Lafayette-based security company sole discretion to decide who could be certified to produce “e-liquid” in Indiana.
Now, after numerous lawmakers have said they’ve been interviewed by the FBI, which has declined to comment on the probe, GOP leaders who control the Statehouse say eliminating those stringent regulations is a top priority. It’s an about face from last year, when Republicans ignored the handful of lawmakers who warned that the strict security and certification process required by the bill would create a monopoly.
