Richmond —

Attorney General Jay Jones announced a Regulated Products Enforcement Unit on July 30, a standing office to enforce Virginia’s laws on vaping products, liquid nicotine, hemp-derived intoxicants, THC, kratom and products marketed to minors.

The same day, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit removed the legal obstacle that had been sitting on Virginia’s vape directory since December.

The ruling and the injunction

On December 18, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia barred Virginia from enforcing the core of its directory law in Nova Distro, Inc. v. Miyares, a suit brought by small vapor manufacturers and retailers. The court enjoined § 59.1-293.17(D) and § 59.1-293.20(A) through (D), the provisions making it unlawful to sell a nicotine product not listed in the attorney general’s directory, on the ground that enforcing FDA premarket authorization is a federal matter. It left standing the parts that do not turn on federal authorization: certification, registration, recordkeeping, inspections. “State law provisions which do not turn on federal authorization status are not preempted,” the court wrote.

That order was expressly interim, pending the Fourth Circuit’s decision in a parallel North Carolina case.

That decision landed on July 30. In Vapor Technology Association v. Wooten, No. 25-1745, a panel of Judges Thacker, Agee and Quattlebaum upheld North Carolina’s directory law. “In sum, there is no indication that S.L. 2024-31 is preempted by federal law,” the court held. The Eighth Circuit reached the same conclusion the same day in an Iowa case.

Jones announced the enforcement unit that day.

What the directory actually contains

The directory is small. In his February report to the General Assembly, Jones told legislators that as of December 31, 2025, thirteen manufacturers had certified products for the directory, roughly 190 products in total, generating $380,000 in certification revenue at $2,000 per SKU.

The listed products come largely from the companies with FDA marketing orders: Juul, NJOY, Logic, Vuse and R.J. Reynolds. The flavored disposables that make up much of the shelf in a convenience store or behind a bar are not on it.

Retailers selling an unlisted product face $1,000 per product per day until it is removed or listed.

Who does the inspecting now

HB 308, patroned by Del. Patrick Hope, and its Senate companion SB 620, patroned by Sen. Adam Ebbin, became Chapters 1044 and 1021 on April 22 and took effect July 1. Together they moved enforcement from the Department of Taxation to the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, which now permits tobacco retailers and inspects them, including undercover compliance checks using underage buyers. The permit itself becomes mandatory on October 1.

Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico, said at the announcement that “for far too long, too many vape shops have been ignoring the law, selling illegal and dangerous products to Virginians.”

The scale the office is describing comes from earlier inspections. In 2024 the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services found violations at 82 percent of the retailers it inspected.

Deputy Attorney General Helen Hardiman said the unit “will ensure that consumers are well informed and protected from harmful products.” Jones’s office has not announced staffing levels or a separate operating budget for it.

The rest of the remit

The unit’s reach runs past nicotine. HB 360, patroned by Del. J.G. Cole, became Chapter 595 on April 13 and brought kratom under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act: sales restricted to 21 and over, labeling and secure storage requirements, a ban on synthetic compounds and limits on 7-hydroxymitragynine.

Hemp-derived THC is in the remit too. Virginia’s 2 milligram total THC per package cap took effect August 15, with enforcement running through the Cannabis Control Authority.

That puts vapes, hemp seltzers and kratom under one office, and an ABC licensee that sells any of them now has one agency at the door for all three.