Heights Vape Shop Raided by Police

Jul 13, 2023

Google reviewers give OZ Tobacco and Vape a perfect score of 5. "New shop right in Jersey City with everything you need and more" wrote one fan, Harold Green, in a February post.

Apparently, the Jersey City police are not as enamored of OZ, especially the "and more" part. Last night, just before eight, a team of police officers descended on the Central Avenue business in force and began carting away plastic evidence bags of contraband.

This afternoon, the store looked as if it had been picked over by a Black Friday flash mob. A store employee explained what happened. "The police were here about the flavored vaping juices. They gave us a warning."

In 2020, the F.D.A. banned the sale of certain flavored vaping products appealing to teens.

Recently, the profusion of vaping shops and cannabis dispensaries along Central Avenue has some Heights residents fuming, seeing them as a threat to children and a malodorous nuisance. On Wednesday, the City Council passed a moratorium through May 15 on new cannabis dispensary applications.

OZ isn't the only smoke shop to run afoul of the law. In August of last year, Smokers Paradise on the Newark Avenue Pedestrian Mall was shut down when police allegedly found raw marijuana, marijuana-infused food products, and illegal flavored tobacco vape products on the premises.

As to OZ, it appears ready to soldier on with its reduced inventory, catering "to all smoking and vaping needs pipes, hookahs, vape, vape juices, tobacco, and much more."

Aaron is a writer, musician and lawyer. Aaron attended Berklee College of Music and the State University of New York at Purchase. Aaron served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador. He received a J.D.... More by Aaron Morrill