The governor of the U.S. state of Ohio has called for a statewide ban on the sale of flavored nicotine products. The announcement came when Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a bill that would have barred local governments from making any tobacco rules more harsh than state regulations.
“I’m just looking at this from a logical point of view,” DeWine said. “I listen to my friends who have businesses. I understand their desire to get uniformity…I just think the easiest way to do this is to have a statewide ban.”
The provision he vetoed was a legislative response to a ban recently approved by the city of Columbus. The governor announced his decision during a press conference held with his state health director, Bruce Vanderhoff, to specifically talk about the dangers of youth use of flavored tobacco products, according to The Blade.
“We have an epidemic,” DeWine said. “We are seeing more and more of young people starting to vape at a younger and younger age. This has been going on long enough now that we know that many of them then transition over to tobacco, and we know the long-term consequences of that.”