A state decision determining who manufactures e-liquids in the Hoosier State is now under investigation.
By CSD Staff
The FBI is looking into whether any foul play was involved in the creation of Indiana’s controversial vaping law, according to an Indianapolis Star article.
According to the newspaper, agents have interviewed at least two lawmakers and a manufacturer of liquids used in electronic smoking devices.
“They asked me if I knew of anything anyone might have gotten out of this legislation,” said State Sen. Phil Boots, who said he talked to an agent last month, the article said. “I think that’s what they’re looking at — did someone in the legislature gain from the legislation?”
Boots, a Crawfordsville Republican who has expressed concerns about the legislation, told the newspaper that he wasn’t aware of any lawmakers who benefited financially from the legislation, but could understand why the FBI is asking questions.
E-LIQUID PRODUCERS
The law gave only a handful of e-liquid producers control of the Indiana market, shutting out dozens of other manufacturers that had operated in the state. Lawmakers passed the measure in 2015 and amended it this year, according to the newspaper.
The FBI also has interviewed Evan McMahon, an e-liquid producer and leader of Hoosier Vapers, a consumer and industry organization that opposes the law, the Star reported.
The new regulations require any company that wants to produce e-liquid for sale in Indiana to be certified by a security firm by June 30. But, because of how the law was written, only one security firm in the entire country qualified to perform the work — Lafayette-based Mulhaupt’s Inc.
The new law has come under intense scrutiny, even from Indiana convenience store operators.
