A new report should make legislators across America think twice about following Massachusetts’ example on tobacco policy.

After raising taxes and banning popular flavored products, Massachusetts had a 21,000% increase in illegal vape seizures in a single year.

That is not a typo.

The findings are from an investigation by the Massachusetts Multi-Agency Illegal Tobacco Task Force, which is under the umbrella of the state’s Department of Revenue. State police vape seizures jumped from 1,326 units to 279,432 illegal products in the last fiscal year.

And, the report found, there is a thriving market for untaxed menthol cigarettes, flavored cigars and other banned products, all powered by state policies like high taxes and strict prohibition.

“It just shows that, in the state’s own report, black market sales will rise or thrive because of this,” Northeast Wholesalers Association (NEWA) CEO V.J. Mayor said. “And it doesn’t achieve the public health outcome that the state is looking for when it increases state excise taxes on cigarettes.”

The restrictive policies in question date to 2019, when then-governor Charlie Baker signed “An Act Modernizing Tobacco Control” into law. They included a ban on the retail sale of flavored tobacco products, new regulatory requirements, and a 75% excise tax on the wholesale price of electronic nicotine delivery systems, aka vapes and e-cigarettes.

Some communities went even further. Brookline passed a law making it illegal for anyone born after Jan. 1, 2000, to ever buy tobacco or nicotine products from their local retailers. Over time, nobody will be left alive who is old enough to buy tobacco in their town.

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has praised these efforts, and the American Lung Association has called Massachusetts a leader in tobacco policy.

Critics like The New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association (NECSEMA) say the study shows how misguided the policies are and that this outcome was easy to predict.

“These numbers are absolutely staggering and prove what NECSEMA has warned from the start — Massachusetts has created the perfect environment for illegal smuggling,” said executive director Peter Brennan. “Our members are losing customers to the illicit market every day, and the state is bleeding tax revenue because criminals are filling the void created by excessive taxes and product bans.”

The state’s prohibitionist approach isn’t inept policy, says Paul Craney with the free-market Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance think tank. It’s also at odds with the state’s approach to other so-called vices.

“These elected statehouse leaders, while they’re doing these restrictive policies on nicotine products, they don’t apply the same standard to marijuana, alcohol or other kinds of recreational activities,” Craney said. “They aren’t consistent in their philosophy. It seems like they want to be punitive with this one type of product.”

The result, notes Craney, is that Massachusetts has one of the highest rates of consumers who buy tobacco products but don’t pay the state’s tobacco taxes. How?

Two words: New Hampshire.

“New Hampshire is the No. 3 state in the country for outbound cigarette smuggling, resulting in a revenue windfall, concludes the latest annual report on interstate cigarette smuggling from the Tax Foundation and Mackinac Center for Public Policy,” writes Drew Cline, president of the Josiah Bartlett Center, Craney’s counterpart across the state line.

“From 2007-2022, New Hampshire earned $955 million in state revenue from cigarette buyers who then smuggled their purchases to higher-tax states, according to the report.”

Craney agrees.

“Frankly, when (nicotine consumers) go to states like New Hampshire, they can do a lot of other shopping and save money. So, yeah, I think it’s one of those things that’s going to drive people elsewhere.”

Far from learning the lesson, some Massachusetts politicians want to make the problem even worse by adding even more restrictions on consumers.

“This report is also clear evidence of just how misguided additional prohibitions would be,” Brennan said. “Ideas like creating a so-called nicotine-free generation or limiting sales of nicotine products to adult-only stores will only make a bad situation worse — driving even more consumers to illegal sellers, costing even more tax revenue, and putting even more pressure on our small businesses.”

If the prohibition approach worked, then perhaps government attempts to force people to stop buying products they want would make sense, critics argue. However,  they don’t.

“Massachusetts’ experience proves that overly restrictive policies do not eliminate the problem; they simply drive it underground,” Mayor said. “This fuels a thriving black market, undermines legitimate businesses, and, ultimately, shortchanges the state’s revenue.”

Chris Woodward writes about industry and technology for InsideSources.com.