Judge blocks Michigan’s ban on flavored vapor products

A Michigan judge on Tuesday blocked the state’s weeks-old ban on flavored e-cigarettes, citing evidence that adults could return to smoking more harmful tobacco products, according to a story on AP.com.

Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens also said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration’s delay in implementing the prohibition undercut its position that emergency rules were justified.

The lawsuit was filed by vaping businesses that said the ban, which took effect Oct. 2, will force them to close. The judge issued a preliminary injunction to stop the state from enforcing the rules, according to the story.

Michigan, New York and Rhode Island have recently banned flavored vaping products in response to an explosion in teen vaping in recent years. President Donald Trump said last month that the federal government would act to prohibit thousands of flavors used in e-cigarettes because they appeal to underage users.

Whitmer, a Democrat, has accused companies of using candy flavors and deceptive advertising to “hook children on nicotine.”

The rules prohibit the sale of flavored nicotine vaping products, including to adults, and the misleading marketing of e-cigarettes, according to the story.