LOUISVILLE, Ky. — On Jan. 1, 2025 new laws go into effect in Kentucky that may affect how people shop for nicotine products.

Starting on Wednesday, people who use vape products will see changes.

“You can expect to see us not selling a lot of the stuff people usually buy. I’ll say that,” said Popular Smoke Shop’s Kevin Torres. 

In April,  Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Ky., signed House Bill 11 into law.

It requires all smokeless nicotine products to have Food and Drug Administration marketing authorization, or that the products must have applied to get the authorization.

Meaning the FDA has determined that the product is approved to be sold. But this doesn’t mean that the product is safe or safer than alternative combustible tobacco products.

Some lawmakers have said that the law is aimed at regulating vapes and e-cigarettes with fruity flavors and colorful packaging that they say targets young people.

It follows a recent Kentucky incentives for prevention survey which reported 26% of high school seniors vaped in the past year.

The legal age for purchasing tobacco products is 21 and smoke shops all over the state are preparing for the changes. 

Encore Smokes, Vapes, and More in Middletown will shut its doors after Dec. 31.

“Across all of our shelves, we usually sell about 15,000 a week. But you know most of it’s our vapes,” said Aliah Wade with Encore. 

Other stores like Popular Smoke Shop will make adjustments.

“We have another store in Indiana, so we’ll probably just take all of our stock over there. It’s hard. It’s tough,” said Torres. 

The new law also requires the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to create and maintain a tobacco noncompliance database and reporting system.