DA Shuts Down Kratom Sales At Bucks Co. Smoke Shop

BUCKINGHAM, PA — In a historic legal action, Bucks County District Attorney Joe Khan on Wednesday obtained an emergency preliminary injunction shutting down sales of tobacco and kratom products to minors at Zaza Vape & Cigar, Inc. in Buckingham.

The emergency court order was granted just hours after District Attorney Khan, joined by local leaders and law enforcement officers from the District Attorney’s Office and Buckingham Township, held a news conference directly outside the smoke shop at 2539 Durham Road.

The action comes after the DA's Office filed a major equity complaint under the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law targeting the business for predatory underage sales and deceptive practices.

The action is believed to be the first time a District Attorney’s Office in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has utilized a civil consumer protection lawsuit to halt illegal smoke shop operations.

“Our top priority is protecting Bucks County youth,” District Attorney Khan said. “That’s why we will not tolerate crooked corporations that target our kids for the sake of profit.”

(Bucks County District Attorney's Office)

Earlier in the day, the District Attorney’s Office filed an equity complaint in the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas along with a petition for an emergency injunction to stop the store from continuing to sell to minors.

Bucks County Common Pleas Court Judge James M. McMaster granted the emergency petition later in the day after prosecutors presented evidence of an ongoing pattern of non-compliance.

While Pennsylvania’s average retail tobacco violation rate was 15.2 percent in 2025, Zaza Vape & Cigar maintained a 100 percent fail rate, making it the only one of Bucks County's 580 licensed tobacco retailers to fail every single youth compliance check since opening.

Between July 2025 and August 2026, undercover operations documented five separate illegal tobacco sales to minors without ID checks. On August 12, just eight days after a court conviction for selling tobacco to a minor, the store committed the same violation again.

Undercover operations revealed the shop deceptively sold Schedule 1 controlled substances, including THC-A vapes and marijuana pre-rolls that lab tests confirmed exceeded legal thresholds, which the store falsely marketed as legal hemp.

The filing also detailed how lax age enforcement lured minors to a store where consumers could buy addictive, opioid-like kratom products like 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH). This included kratom-infused chocolate bars disguised as standard candy, one of which was sold to an undercover 17-year-old on July 10, 2026, without an ID check. This filing came two days after District Attorney Khan joined other Pennsylvania District Attorneys in urging the Secretary of Health to temporarily schedule kratom-derived products as Schedule I narcotics.

As part of a related criminal investigation, Bucks County Detectives executed search warrants at the storefront located at 2539 Durham Road.

“As we encourage state and federal officials to take the necessary steps to keep these products away from our kids, we will leverage the Consumer Protection Law and our other existing powers to protect Bucks County children from corrupt businesses that have no regard for their welfare,” said Khan.

Under the terms of the injunction granted today, the business is barred from allowing anyone under 21 into the store without age verification, prohibited from selling tobacco or kratom to minors, and required to use digital ID card scanners for tobacco sales. In the main civil action, the lawsuit seeks permanent injunctions, civil penalties up to $1,000 per violation ($3,000 for victims 60 or older), and a permanent ban on the sale of controlled substances and kratom.