COLUMBUS, Ohio — On Monday, shelves at Puff Palace on North High Street look a lot different. The store can no longer sell flavored menthol cigarettes or flavored vapes because of the city of Columbus’ ban on the products went into effect.
Moe Ismail, the manager of Puff Palace said their business will suffer and they are projecting a 65% loss.
Ismail doesn’t understand why the city of Columbus decided to ban the flavored products.
“Why do they get to limit what kind of things we do if they don’t want to do it on different products like alcohol?” said Ismail.
The city of Columbus said they banned the flavored products because they feel it targets minorities and children. But, Ismail said children shouldn’t even be considered in the conversation.
“That’s irrelevant to us. 21 is the guideline for federal reasons and we ID people off the front,” said Ismail.
Ismail said his customers aren’t happy about the change, and he knows people will always find a way to get what they want.
“They will just drive out to the suburbs if they have to, to get their product,” he said.
Ismail said he wishes council would’ve let the people decide if flavored products should be sold or not.
“They should have put it on the ballot. It should be the consumers choice to state if they believe this product has been an infringement on people itself or if they believe it should still be on the market and people make their own choices,” said Ismail.