P&CMA President Bart Fletcher on HB8 and the Vape Bill Lawsuit

Recently, ALPolitics.com had the opportunity to speak with Petroleum and Convenience Store Marketers of Alabama (P&CMA) President Bart Fletcher about HB8–the “vape bill”—and the lawsuit and request for a restraining order against the bill his organization has filed.

“We’re the Petroleum and Convenience Marketers of Alabama. We are the State Trade Association representing wholesale and retail gasoline distributors and convenience store operators. We're in our 76th year, been a Trade Association in Alabama for a long time,” Fletcher said.

“I would just say, just in general, there are certainly provisions about HB8 that we don’t agree with. Primarily, the most significant problem, in our opinion at this point, is that the bill was signed into law by the Governor approximately two weeks ago, and has an effective date of June 1. There's absolutely no way that the provisions of the bill can be implemented in a two week timeframe. 

“The ABC Board has had absolutely no opportunity to develop new rules and regulations that would be required because of this legislation. There's absolutely no way that they could issue the licenses that were required as a result of this legislation in two weeks.

“There's no way that retailers have the opportunity to divest of what has previously been legal products in the state of Alabama in a two week time frame, and certainly we don't think that responsible retailers ought to be required to eat the cost of inventory that they currently have on hand.

“So, there's just a litany list of items that pertain to an ill conceived effective date. You know, basically two weeks after the Bill became law

“That’s our primary focus at this point, and we have asked for a temporary restraining order to allow for the effective date to be paused for a period of time. Once we get that breathing room, then certainly the other issues about which we have concerns that were contained in HB8, the attorneys will have time to address.

“Right now, our primary concern was that the ABC board has not had a chance to even send out a memo to their tobacco permittees on what they should be doing. There could be legitimate retailers out there who are not members of my Trade Association, who are not members of any other group, maybe they're a small Mom and Pop store in a rural community, they don't even know, perhaps, that this law was even passed. They certainly don't know that these products become illegal on June 1.

“That was, at least, the most pressing issue with regard to why we felt the need to file the lawsuit,” Fletcher concluded.

As ALPolitics.com has previously reported, the P&CMA and Young Oil Inc. filed a lawsuit and request for a temporary restraining order against the Alabama Alcohol and Beverage Control (ABC) Board to block the enforcement of HB8 as of June 1. P&CMA argued that HB8 infringes on federal authority, specifically the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to regulate Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS).

On Thursday, May 29, P&CMA, the ABC Board and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) signed a Joint Stipulation that, among other things, withdraws P&MCA’s request for a temporary restraining order against the enforcement of HB8. All parties also “preliminarily agree” that the FDA requires marketing authority for ENDS, and that the Code of Alabama allows the sale of ENDS by those with appropriate FDA marketing orders. The agreement also specifies that it does not affect the authority of the ABC Board concerning the labeling of certain tobacco products, preventing their availability on the market.

All parties agree that the Joint Stipulation will remain in place, pending disposition of the case.

This Joint Stipulation appears to pause the enforcement of HB8 for the time being, allowing more time for all parties to work out their differences over the many issues HB8 has created, while the lawsuit goes forth.

ALPolitics.com reached out to State Representative Barbara Drummond (D-Mobile), the original sponsor of HB8, as well as State Senator David Sessions (R-Grand Bay), who carried the bill in the Senate. Neither had responded to a request for comment at press time.

A review of HB8 may be found HERE. The bill itself may be found HERE. More information about the lawsuit is available HERE.