Underage Vaping Operation Nabs 6 Store Clerks In Ashburn: Police

ASHBURN, VA — The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office charged six clerks with selling JUUL pods to customers under the age of 21 Friday night as part of an underage vaping operation, the sheriff's office said Monday. All six clerks were issued a summons under a Virginia law that took effect last July prohibiting the sale of tobacco products and e-cigarettes to people under 21.

As part of Friday's operation, the sheriff's office visited 33 retail locations in the Ashburn Station area. Eleven of the stores recently stopped selling vape products. Nine locations had installed scanners for driver's licenses that are used to complete a purchase of tobacco and vape products, the sheriff's office said. The scanners will invalidate the sale if the driver's license has a birthdate indicating the buyer is under 21.

Out of the 13 remaining businesses, six clerks sold JUUL pods to underage buyers, according to the sheriff's office. The names of the businesses, according to the sheriff's office, are Nash Vapes and Cigars at Creek View Plaza; Tobacco Hut Vape & CBD at Ashbrook Commons Plaza; Exxon at Ryan Center Way; Tobacco Hut & Vape Village at Broadlands Center Plaza; Shell at Ice Rink Plaza; and Exxon at Flagstaff Plaza

All six clerks at these businesses "were released on a Virginia Uniform Summons," the sheriff's office said.

At Nash Vapes and Cigars, the clerk asked for the customer's identification when she requested to purchase a vape device, but he misread the date of birth, according to a store representative. The police then came into the store and gave him a summons.

The representative said Nash Vapes and Cigars had never received a summons for selling products to underage buyers prior to Friday's police operation. "Plus, I personally do my own security measures and check on my employees regularly to make sure that they are very careful and card everyone even if they look over the legal age," the representative said.

The Loudoun County sheriff's office said it discusses vaping devices as part of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or D.A.R.E., program at the elementary and middle school levels. The agency also conducts educational forums on vaping in coordination with Loudoun County Public Schools.

In an informational video produced by the sheriff's office, Sheriff Mike Chapman says vapes "have become popular among teenagers nationally at epidemic levels, and because they emit very low amounts of vapor or aerosol, they are often used during school hours, in school bathrooms and even classrooms."