Michigan Adds Vapor Tax, Allows Flavored E-Liquids

The Michigan Senate approved a six-bill package Wednesday that would impose an 18 percent tax on e-liquids. If signed into law, it specifically would allow individuals to sell flavored vaping products.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer attempted last year to make Michigan the first state in the nation with a ban on flavored vaping products out of concern for youth usage. But the courts eventually paused the ban after businesses filed a legal challenge, according to an article on detroitnews.com.

The new legislative package, which gained the backing of the Republican-controlled Senate, would set up an enforcement and licensing system for shops that sell vaping products.

It would also change the age requirement for buying tobacco and vaping products from 18 years old to 21 in state law. President Donald Trump previously instituted a federal change to increase the age to 21 across the country.

“It’s regulated. It’s enforced,” Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint, said about the bills, which he said would give adults the “choice one way or another” whether to use the products.

Ananich was one of the sponsors of bills in the package. He said it aimed to resolve a lack of clarity surrounding federal and state policy on vaping in Michigan. The legislation, which doesn’t affect marijuana vaping products, originally aimed to set the tax rate at 24 percent but lawmakers dropped the proposed rate to 18 percent before Wednesday’s vote.