Walmart retail store. Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock.com

Citing regulatory challenges at the state and federal level, Walmart Inc. announced Friday in an internal memo that it will be discontinuing the sale of e-cigarettes and vaping products.

"Given the growing federal, state and local regulatory complexity and uncertainty regarding e-cigarettes, we plan to discontinue the sale of electronic nicotine delivery products at all Walmart and Sam's Club U.S. locations. We will complete our exit after selling through current inventory," a representative for Walmart said in an email to Corporate Counsel.

The statement sent to Corporate Counsel mirrors what was in the internal memo first reported on by Yahoo Finance on Friday.

No one from Walmart's legal department was made available to further discuss the decision and the representative said the company would not be commenting further.

A representative from Juul Labs Inc., which is the largest e-cigarette company in the market, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The vaping industry is under scrutiny after 530 cases of respiratory illness and eight deaths associated with vaping were recorded. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised that people should refrain from using e-cigarettes while the matter is under investigation. The CDC further said those who have become sick have also vaped some kind of black market cannabis product.

"Walmart has taken a responsible step given the worsening youth e-cigarette epidemic and the growing number of severe lung disease cases associated with e-cigarette use. We urge them to make this policy permanent and to go further by ending sales of all tobacco products, including cigarettes," Matthew Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said in a statement to Corporate Counsel.

George Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, said in a statement it is odd for Walmart to continue to sell combustible tobacco while getting rid of harm reduction alternatives.

"Removing vaping products from shelves will do nothing to stop drug dealers from continuing to sell contaminated marijuana oil cartridges on the street."

The CDC has indicated that some of those who have become ill were vaping contaminated marijuana products. Those on the side of the vaping industry have indicated that contaminated marijuana has been the cause of the illnesses.

"Many patients have reported using products containing THC and products containing nicotine.  And some have reported the use of e-cigarette products containing only nicotine. CDC is still working to understand more about the exposures of these patients and if this trend is reflected in the full national picture of cases in addition to the earlier reports," Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the CDC, said in a call on Thursday with reporters on the organization's investigation.

This is not the first time Walmart has taken steps to control the underage use of e-cigarettes. In May, the retail giant announced it would be raising the minimum age for tobacco products to 21 and was in the process of discontinuing the sale of fruit- and dessert-flavored e-cigarettes, according to media reports.