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Michigan becomes first state to ban flavored e-cigarettes Michigan becomes first state to ban flavored e-cigarettes
(about 3 hours later)
Governor Gretchen Whitmer is moving to make Michigan the first state to ban flavored e-cigarettes. Michigan will become the first state to ban flavored e-cigarettes, joining liberal US cities in an effort to curb teen vaping. The move comes on the heels of reports of a severe, rare and unexplained respiratory illness affecting heavy vape users.
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The Democrat announced on Wednesday that she had ordered the state health department to issue emergency rules. They will prohibit the sale and misleading marketing of flavored nicotine vaping products. The Democrat announced the state health department would immediately ban retail and online sales of flavored e-cigarettes through an emergency rule-making process. The move will prohibit the sale and misleading marketing of flavored nicotine vaping products.
Whitmer said in a written statement that her No 1 priority was keeping kids safe, and she wanted to stop companies that are using candy flavors to “hook children on nicotine”. “I’ve got teenagers at home,” Whitmer said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Wednesday. “I was talking with them about the prevalence of vaping in their schools, and it’s everywhere.”
The federal government and nearly every state bar the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. Whitmer said Michigan will be the first to ban flavored vaping products, including for adults. Whitmer said she is concerned about fruit and candy flavored e-cigarettes being marketed to children as healthier alternatives to smoking.
It was not immediately clear how quickly her administration would implement the rules. “It would be great if, at the federal level, we knew there was a [US] Surgeon General warning on all vape products, that they were treated like tobacco, taxed like tobacco, but none of that is happening,” she said.
Although there is no long-term evidence about the health effects of vaping, experts widely regard the devices as less harmful than smoking. However, more than 200 cases of severe, unexplained lung illness among heavy vape users has alarmed many doctors.
Recent US government surveys have found a more than 900% increase in vaping among high school students between 2011 and 2015, prompting an advisory from the US surgeon general on their popularity. Seven in 10 teens have been exposed to e-cigarette advertisements.
The American Vaping Association, a lobbying group for the e-cigarette industry, called Whitmer’s call for new rules a “backdoor prohibition.” Without citing specific evidence, the group said the ban would hurt thousands of businesses and force adults to go back to smoking.
Some US cities have already moved to ban flavored e-cigarettes. New York City is considering bills to ban flavored e-cigarettes and tobacco, such as menthol, and a similar ban is already law in San Francisco.
In June, San Francisco went a step further, and become the first US city to ban e-cigarettes outright. The new law is a reaction to the popularity of the leading e-cigarette brand, Juul, has among children.
However, San Francisco’s ban has split public health experts. Many researchers have argued the devices helpmany low-income smokers move to a less destructive habit. Others argue an epidemic of teen vaping demands restrictions, even without fully complete scientific conclusions on the devices’ health effects.
Vaping advocates are likely to challenge any new rules in court. Attempts to regulate e-cigarettes through the US Food and Drug Administration have been met with lengthy legal challenges by lobbying groups which often have close ties to traditional cigarette manufacturers.
Cigarette manufacturers have invested heavily in vaping in recent years. Altria, formerly known as Philip Morris, bought a more than one-third stake in Juul, the sleek vape which dominates the US market. RJ Reynolds owns its competitor, Vuse.
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