Retailers who market flavored nicotine vaping products and wondered aloud when Michigan’s new ban on such products would take effect are being warned. The band, designed to protect children’s health, takes affect immediately, and retailers will have 14 days to comply with the new emergency ruling.
Gov. Whitmer’s emergency rules banning flavored nicotine vaping products were released this morning. The flavored nicotine vaping ban was developed in response to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) finding of a public health emergency created by skyrocketing levels of youth vaping.
Michigan was the first state in the nation to announce a ban on the sale of flavored nicotine vaping products such as e-cigarettes. Whitmer announced her intention to issue these emergency rules back on September 4th, and they are effective immediately, although retailers and resellers – including online sellers – have 14 days to comply.
Gov. Whitmer says, “I’m proud that Michigan has been a national leader in protecting our kids from the harmful effects of vaping,” adding, “For too long, companies have gotten our kids hooked on nicotine by marketing candy-flavored vaping products as safe. That ends today. This bold action will protect our kids and our overall public health.”
Shortly after Whitmer’s announcement of the flavored vaping product ban, the White House followed Michigan’s lead with a call for similar actions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Additionally, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans to move forward with flavored nicotine vaping product bans and the New York plans have been approved.
The MDHHS Bureau of Health and Wellness filed the Protection of Youth from Nicotine Product Addiction Emergency Rules with the Secretary of State.
Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, Chief Medical Executive and Chief Deputy Director for Health at MDHSS says, “Today’s filing is necessary to protect the public health,” and adds, “Youth vaping is a public health emergency and has been declared an epidemic by the U.S. surgeon general. Nicotine in e-cigarettes is harmful to developing brains and has dangerous long-term health consequences such as heart disease and cancer.”
The rules are effective for 180 days and can be extended for six months. MDHHS has also filed a Request for Rulemaking, which will allow the department to promulgate permanent rules to keep Michiganders safe from the harmful effects of addiction to nicotine.
On June 4th, Whitmer signed Senate Bills 106 and 155, which prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes and other non-traditional nicotine products to minors. In her signing message to the Legislature, the governor criticized the legislation for not going far enough to protect Michigan’s kids from nicotine addiction, calling the marketing, packaging, and taste of e-cigarettes a “bait-and-switch” engineered to “create new nicotine addicts.”
Nationwide, e-cigarette use among middle and high school students increased 900-percent from 2011-2015. From 2017 to 2018, e-cigarette use spiked 78-percent among high school students and 48-percent among middle school students. In 2018, more than 3.6 million U.S. kids, including 1 in 5 high school students and 1 in 20 middle school students, were regular users.
The rules and other information about Michigan’s flavored e-cigarette ban can be found online at this link: http://www.michigan.gov/e-cigarettes
