Kroger and Walgreens to stop selling e-cigarettes at stores, gas stations

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX/WTTE) — Kroger is the latest retailer to discontinue the sale of electronic cigarettes as government officials continue to look at more regulations of the devices.

In a statement, the Ohio-based company said they’re “discontinuing the sale of electronic nicotine delivery products, or e-cigarettes, all store and fuel center locations due to mounting questions and increasingly-complex regulatory environment associated with these products.”

Stores will stop selling them after getting through their current inventory.

E-cigarettes are facing backlash as health officials investigate a growing number of people with vaping-related lung illness, along with an exponential increase in the number of teens using the devices in recent years. In September Walmart also said they would stop selling e-cigs at their stores and Sam’s Club locations because of “growing federal, state and local regulatory complexity”.

The drugstore chain Walgreens also announced Monday they would discontinue sales of e-cigarettes at their stores nationwide, citing an uncertain regulatory environment.

Walgreens, based in Deerfield, Illinois, operates more than 9,500 stores in the U.S.