LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has released her emergency rules banning flavored nicotine vaping products.
The emergency order announced Sept. 4 made Michigan the first state to have such a ban. It came after the state’s health department declared a public health emergency because of rising levels of youth vaping.
Retailers will 14 days to comply with the rules, which bans the sale of all flavors other than tobacco and the use of “misleading” marketing of vaping products that uses terms like “clean,” “safe” and “healthy.”
Since the announcement of Michigan’s ban, the White House has called for similar rules by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and New York and California’s governors have said they will move forward with flavored nicotine bans.
When the order was first announced, West Michigan vape shops said they say a sudden spike in business but ultimately expressed severe concerns about the ability to keep their doors open going forward.
Defend MI Rights Coalition, a group of small business owners involved in the vaping industry, released a statement on the order:
“While we are currently reviewing the rules filed by Governor Whitmer, we are disappointed that she failed to take into account the testimony made by Michigan small business owners at last week’s House Oversight Committee Hearing and clear evidence demonstrating that this ban will turn adults back to combustible cigarettes, create a dangerous black market and destroy a legal industry that includes hundreds of small businesses and thousands of employees across the state.”
