A Bucks County Court of Common Pleas judge has extended an emergency injunction barring a Buckingham Township smoke shop from selling tobacco and kratom products to minors after a county investigation that also led to a search of the business.
Bucks County District Attorney Joe Khan announced Wednesday that his office filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Zaza Vape and Cigar Smoke Shop on Durham Road in the Candlewyck Tavern shopping center.
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County detectives executed a search warrant at the store Wednesday morning as part of a separate and ongoing criminal investigation, Khan said.
“This is a store that does not care in the slightest about the welfare of our children, but we do, and that’s why we’re here to stand up for them,” Khan said.
The store is near Central Bucks East High School and Buckingham Elementary School.
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Investigators found the business had been selling tobacco products, kratom and THC-containing marijuana cigarettes to minors, authorities said.
Khan also said the store sells candy, including Skittles, Lifesavers and chocolate, making it particularly attractive to young customers.
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Zaza Vape and Cigar was the only one of 580 licensed tobacco retailers in Bucks County to fail every youth compliance check conducted with the Council of Southeastern Pennsylvania. The statewide failure rate was about 15%, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.
Jennifer King, executive director of the Council of Southeastern Pennsylvania, said the organization has conducted undercover compliance operations for years and trained youth volunteers to attempt purchases at retail locations.
“No more stores can do this without consequence,” King said. “We know that when youth can delay the onset of use of any kind of substances, their rate and risk of addiction goes way down.”
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Court records show Zaza Vape and Cigar has been cited and found guilty of violating tobacco sales laws multiple times. The business paid fines of no more than $100 in most cases and no more than $500 in one case.
Khan said the business treated the penalties as the cost of operating.
The lawsuit seeks civil penalties of up to $1,000 per violation, with penalties increasing to $3,000 when victims are 60 or older, as well as permanent injunctions barring the sale of controlled substances and kratom.
The emergency injunction initially granted Wednesday by Bucks County Common Pleas Judge James McMaster was extended Thursday.
As part of McMaster’s order, the business is prohibited from selling tobacco or kratom to minors and must use digital identification card scanners for tobacco sales.
The filing describes a pattern of violations. Between July 2025 and August 2026, undercover operations documented five illegal tobacco sales to minors without identification checks, authorities said.
On Aug. 12, just eight days after the store was convicted of selling tobacco to a minor, investigators documented another alleged sale to a minor, the filing states.
The investigation also found the store selling THC-A vapes and marijuana pre-rolls that laboratory testing determined exceeded legal THC thresholds. The products were marketed as legal hemp, authorities said.
Khan’s office also focused on the store’s sale of kratom, a substance derived from an Asian plant. The district attorney described concentrated, commercially processed kratom products as having effects that replicate those of morphine. Kratom is sometimes referred to as “gas station heroin.”
Khan said he and the Chester County district attorney contacted Pennsylvania’s secretary of health Monday and joined other district attorneys in asking the state to temporarily schedule kratom-derived products as Schedule I substances under Pennsylvania law.
The federal Drug Enforcement Administration designated certain kratom-derived substances as Schedule I controlled substances the week before the announcement, Khan said.
State Rep. Jim Prokopiak, a Democrat who represents the 140th Legislative District, said he has worked on kratom-related legislation with other lawmakers for more than a year and a half.
“We clearly need to have safeguards so that it’s not sold or marketed to children,” Prokopiak said. “Too many of these, especially the synthetic kratom, is made in flavors that appeal to children and is sold to children. We have to stop that.”
Prokopiak said several bills have been introduced in the Legislature that would require warning labels and restrict sales to minors, with action expected in the coming months.
Buckingham Township Supervisor Mike Bateman also spoke at the announcement and said he had shared constituent concerns about the business with the District Attorney’s Office.
During a question-and-answer session, a young community member told Khan he could identify at least three other locations within five minutes of the smoke shop where minors could purchase similar products. The young man also argued that addressing children’s mental health was a more fundamental solution.
Khan acknowledged the concern and invited the young man to speak with detectives. He also defended the consumer protection action as a message to retailers across Bucks County and Pennsylvania.
“You’re very unlucky if you’re the first smoke shop that gets hit by the District Attorney’s Office, but you’re pretty stupid if you’re the second, third, or fourth,” Khan said.
No arrests have been made in connection with the investigation, and the criminal investigation remains ongoing.
