NEWPORT NEWS — They’re called vape shops, smoke shacks and tobacco stores.
And they’re sprouting up in shopping plazas and storefronts throughout Hampton Roads.
They’re selling lots of vapes — sometimes called “e-cigarettes” — in which nicotine is delivered by water vapor rather than tobacco smoke. Young people are increasingly ditching traditional cigarettes for vaping products, with various flavors among the main draws.
Other hot sellers are the “tobacco wraps” that shop owners say are increasingly used to roll weed after Virginia’s move to marijuana legalization in 2021.
In many cases, shop owners and customers say, people buy low-cost cigars and slice them open with a razor, replacing the tobacco with weed.
To a much lesser extent, the shops are also selling delta-8 and other synthetic forms of THC that will become illegal in Virginia in July. Those products — edibles, smokes, vapes or drinks ― typically deliver less of a kick than marijuana but are seen as having their own dangers, leading legislators to outlaw them.
But while there appears to be significant consumer demand to support the proliferation of vaping and smoke shops, their role in the long-awaited retail marijuana market seems hazy at best. Many shop owners say they want to sell pot, but it’s not clear when — or if — legal sales in Virginia will materialize.
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Personal marijuana possession by adults 21 and over has been legal in Virginia for nearly two years.
But although people…
