Wholesaler Backs Nicotine Pouch Maker in Texas Tobacco Tax Case

One of the biggest wholesale convenience store distributors in the country told the Texas Supreme Court that nicotine isolate products produced by RJR Vapor Co. shouldn’t be subject to tobacco taxes because they don’t contain tobacco leaves or substitutes.

Distributor McLane Co. Inc. filed an amicus brief on Tuesday in support of RJR—which makes the tobacco products—and asked the justices to uphold an appeals court decision that found RJR wasn’t subject to a Texas tobacco tax. The lower court found that RJR’s VELO nicotine pouches and lozenges made of nicotine isolate extracted from tobacco leaves aren’t subject to Texas’s Cigars ...