Michigan to Ban Flavored Vape Products
The Great Lakes state will be first to do so.
Sep 05, 2019
LANSING, Mich.—Michigan is set to become the first state to ban the sale of flavored vape products, according to the Detroit Free Press. Under the direction of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is issuing emergency rules to ban the sale of flavored nicotine vaping products in retail stores and online.
Under the Michigan administrative rules process, state agencies can create regulations and policies that, once authorized, become laws. The Department of Health and Human Services is expected to complete the process within a few weeks, and the ban will take effect immediately afterward.
The ban will last for six months but can be renewed for another six months as state officials “develop permanent regulations banning flavored e-cigarettes.” Michigan retailers will have 30 days to comply. The state had previously banned the sales of e-cigarettes to minors.
Health officials are concerned about the vaping products available in candy flavors that entice underage customers to vape. The ban also will prohibit e-cigarette companies from producing “misleading marketing of vaping products.” Tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes will not be banned. Gov. Whitmer also ordered the Michigan Department of Transportation to enforce an existing statute to prohibit the advertising of vapor products on billboards.
In March, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a proposal to restrict the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, but it has not been finalized. In June, San Francisco banned the sale of e-cigarettes citywide.
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