Law Michigan becomes 1st state to ban flavored e-cigarettes

Michigan becomes 1st state to ban flavored e-cigarettes

Michigan became the first state in the nation to ban flavored e-cigarettes.

abcnews.go.com

Michigan on Wednesday became the first state in the country to ban flavored e-cigarettes, as concerns continue to grow over the potential dangers of vaping.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made the decision after her chief medical executive found that vaping among young people "constitutes a public health emergency," according to a press release from the governor’s office.

Whitmer lambasted companies selling vaping products by “using candy flavors to hook children on nicotine and misleading claims to promote the belief that these products are safe.”

“That ends today,” she said in a statement.


(MORE: More vaping illnesses reported, many involving marijuana)
Flavored nicotine vaping products -- which include tastes akin to apple juice, bubble gum and Nerds candy -- will be banned in retail stores and online in the state. Any marketing of the products that include the words “clean,” “safe,” and “healthy" have also been banned.

Whitmer also ordered the state’s Department of Transportation to enforce an existing statute to prohibit the advertising of vapor products on billboards.

“Governor Whitmer has taken bold and appropriate action in response to the epidemic of youth e-cigarette use,” Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association, said in a statement.

(MORE: Potential links to lung illnesses and e-cigarettes under investigation: CDC)
The ban comes after nearly 100 possible cases of severe lung illnesses associated with vaping were reported in 14 states from late June to mid August, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In Michigan, the Department of Health and Human Services was reviewing six cases involving respiratory illnesses associated with e-cigarettes and vaping.

“The severity of illness people are experiencing is alarming and we want Michiganders to be aware using e-cigarettes and vaping can be dangerous,” Sarah Lyon-Callo, the state epidemiologist, said in August.

(MORE: FDA launches new campaign aimed at teens about the cost of e-cigarettes)
The CDC noted that more information is needed to determine exactly what is causing the illnesses. In all of the cases across the nation, it does not appear that there is an infectious disease involved.

Vaping among high school students increased by 78% from 2017 to 2018, and rose by 48% among middle school students during that same time period, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The FDA believes the sharp increase stems from the use of USB-flash-drive-like e-cigarettes, including the JUUL product, which have become majorly popular among young people.

More than 3.6 million kids reported using e-cigarettes in 2018, according to the FDA.

tbf, e-cigs are both figurative and literal cancer anyway

 

[Liquid Cool]

This “think of the children” mentality these idiots have really ruins everything for the common person.

 

[CivilianOfTheFandomWars]

Vaping mango vape juice: broke
Smoking chocolate flavored Swisher Sweets: woke
Smoking flavored pipe tobacco blends: ascended

 

[JoshPlz]

Thats homophobic as fuck!

 

[ApatheticViewer]

Eh whatever. Weed is still legal up there right?
They can probably deal with not having cheeseburger flavored cigs

 

[Exigent Circumcisions]

Thats homophobic as fuck!

It's worse than sodomy laws, really.

 

[EasyPeasy]

Needs to be banned here in the UK too...

Sick of walking (well hobbling actually) down the street into mists of toxic vapour.
You can taste it the back of your throat. I don't want your fucking diseases!

 

[qu_rahn]

It would suck to be a detroit vapefag right now.

I remember when they banned flavored cigarettes (gonna reveal my powerlevel a little bit here). Me and the boys used to cruise around town hunting down different flavors of Camel Exotic Blends. They came in aluminum tins and were wrapped in premium paper that was ribbed longitudinally unlike typical cigs. It was a true delight

Spoiler: cigs

 

[Duke Nukem]

It would suck to be a detroit vapefag right now.

I remember when they banned flavored cigarettes (gonna reveal my powerlevel a little bit here). Me and the boys used to cruise around town hunting down different flavors of Camel Exotic Blends. They came in aluminum tins and were wrapped in premium paper that was ribbed longitudinally unlike typical cigs.

God I miss smoking so much

I bet if you haven't unwrapped them they're a collector's item by now.

Not really much of a smoker myself but tobacco policy in the US is so ass backwards even I'm noticing how fucked it is. And yeah sure banning flavored tobacco is going to stop people from being addicted to nicotine.

Resources, often free or cheap, are available for people who want to quit. It's not like it isn't common knowledge that settting fire to a toxic plant and inhaling the fumes isn't the best thing for your health. And yet people still do it.

Vaping is for soytards anyway, fuck that I'd rather smoke real tobacco.

 

[User names must be unique]

Unless you're willing to ban either vapes entirely or ban all water soluble food flavorings this law is literally meaningless.

I was rolling my own cigarettes at 13 fairly certain I could have managed to mix 2 liquids together.

 

[VV 422]

if you enjoy vaping you should unironically neck yourself
it's like wearing a fedora on your lip to hide a cold sore

 

[Duke Nukem]

if you enjoy vaping you should unironically neck yourself
it's like wearing a fedora on your lip to hide a cold sore

Vape pens probably contain excessive levels of soy, and they definitely make you look like a quasi-homosexual nu-male.

 

[Niggernerd]

Middle school kids on suicide watch

 

[UQ 770]

One of the real dangers of vaping is inexperienced or less common smokers who blindly just buy whatever nicotine cartridges without actually checking their content or doing the math to figure out how much nicotine their body needs to get its fix. So you have 20-year olds walking around right now who are addicted to the nictotine equivalent of half a carton a day because they assumed anything smaller was the pussy version for fags and the Chainsmoker's Delight Skull and Crossbones EditionTM was for real men.

Also my opinion on vaping is as unfriendly as the rest of this thread appears to be. I recall many years back there were supposed to be "discrete" e-cigarettes that were supposed to generate little to no actual vapor when you breathed out, instead of this obnoxious fog bank billowing out of face. Did something happen to those? Is the technology just not viable?

 

[dark_lob1111]

$$$$$ Big Tobacco has big stocks they do not want to lose. X When vaping cropped up, tasting better, and not having the same research as cigarettes (yet), it's pretty transparent that Tobacco companies have manipulated the government in multiple states to save their asses. One can only hope the General Population realizes this limitation of their merchandise options is monopolistic in nature.

Spoiler: Powerlevel

Like many, I have a close loved one who vapes. I want nothing more than for this monkey to get off their back, however this banning is not about teenagers, fertility, second-hand smoking or any other public health concern. Whether or not you think vaping is faggotry, you need to care about this level of restriction to a free market as an American.

Politicians are dumb as fuck about the internet once again. IIRC the vaping industry began online so you can still just directly order your goods and enjoy them being shipped to your home. Now parents don't have to be judged, just their kids getting expelled for having an illegal substance at school!

Spoiler: Big Pharma is a Big Problem

If you've ever seen COPS tv you know police have not only better things to go after but better...(er worse?) drugs to address. It's not like our very own politicians don't include plenty of people who tried or smoked cigarettes as a youngin'.
Oh but over-prescribing kids under ten? pssh
Deadly-opiates being laced on the street with fentanyl killing hundreds of thousands of Americans who can't afford health-care?*.......tumbleweed*
(many) Mass shooters having common links of Depersonalizing meds? "MeNtaL hEaLtH is teh noomber juan IssUU in Amerikkka!!1!1! "

 

[Pocket Dragoon]

Eh whatever. Weed is still legal up there right?
They can probably deal with not having cheeseburger flavored cigs

I think this is the crux of the real biscuit; premade THC oil cartridges are pretty common in places with med/rec marijuana, they look identical to standard e-juice carts, and most normal vape pens are compatible with them.

 

[OjSimpsonFan21]

Honestly I don’t mind this. Vaping was and is a serious problem in middle and high schools in Detroit, and it’s a hell of a lot easier to get a juul or something than it is to head down to the gas station and get a pack of menthols.

 

[Kiwi Lime Pie]

It's appalling just how much people will sign away to the government to keep from being held accountable for being terrible absentee parents, isn't it?

If I understand right, Governor Whtimer adopted this as an executive order encouraged the state Department of Health & Human Services to declare a health emergency and use that as the basis for imposing a ban.

The biggest issue that came up during tonight's evening news is all the store owners that now have inventory they can no longer sell. One particular store owner that sold vaping products exclusively can't sell any of it now thanks to this order. If Governor Whitmer thought such an order was needed, she needed to have a delay (30 days perhaps?) to allow the businesses that sell the now-banned products to phase it out their inventory without having to take huge losses on something they can't sell and can't easily offload or sell back to their suppliers. For smaller businesses, such an expense is difficult - if not impossible - to absorb and stay in business.

That being said, (((Gretchen Whitmer))) is Michigan's personal Margaret Thatcher, and this "MUH SAVE THE CHILDREN" knobgobbelry is more proof that women are unfit for positions of power.

Given how the previous governor was a white male Republican, it's sadly not surprising we have another Democratic female governor who named a male POC as her lieutenant governor to ensure she got the much-needed votes from cities such as Detroit and Flint. She ran on the claim she was bipartisan while serving in the state legislature and could do more of the same as governor. So far, she's done anything but in adopting an executive order to require a rainbow flag be flown year-round with the national and state flag at the capitol (and daring the Republican controlled state house and senate to pass something that would limit the flags to just the national and state ones so she can veto it on the spot). She's also big on increasing income taxes and gas taxes to fund much-needed road repairs. The 45 cent/gallon tax she's demanding be included in the October 1 budget would nearly triple the state gas tax amount. And here I thought Democrats opposed gas tax hikes because they unfairly target low-income minorities who drive older, less fuel-efficient vehicles (As it is, there are state-level Democrats that truly believe she's a Democrat in name only, though it's doubtful given her strong pro-LGBTetc stance). One can be sure if a Republican proposed the gas tax increase, Democrats would scREEch about this very issue.

While there needs to be some sort of regulation with e-cigarettes, an immediate permanent ban on flavored ones seems a bit drastic. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what the solution is. There's probably consensus that we need to deter minors as much as possible from (mis)using tobacco products that are bad for their long-term health. However, there appears to be little in the way of balancing that goal with allowing adults the choice to vape if they're willing to assume the health risks that come with it.
[Edit to reflect what was reported in the 05-Sep news]

 

[Cheesegirl78]

I used to smoke two packs a day, and vaping got me off of them.

I don't wheeze or get out of breath, don't get sick, and the only time I need my inhaler is during allergy season. I guess I'm a lesbian now.

Why aren't the sales of flavored E-cigs banned to the under-21 crowd?
Or did I miss that part?

The politicians in Michigan are worthless, and always have been.

 

[Slap47]

Needs to be banned here in the UK too...

Sick of walking (well hobbling actually) down the street into mists of toxic vapour.
You can taste it the back of your throat. I don't want your fucking diseases!

The reason the UK is so fucked up is because both the social conservatives and socialists embrace the nanny state.

 

[Dante Alighieri]

Vape juice is propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin, and whatever flavoring. Much healthier than tobacco, and with how many people have gone crazy with it you'd think there would be news of someone with super vape cancer.

Thanks tobacco lobby!