A bill that would have banned the sale of flavored tobacco products and flavored e-liquid products has died after the Vermont General Assembly adjourned for the year.
S.B. 18 would have banned the sale of vaping products such as e-liquids and other tobacco products that have a characterizing flavor other than tobacco.
Like bills recently introduced in other states, the bill contained a provision that said if a company claims that the product has “a distinguishable taste or aroma other than the taste or aroma of tobacco, ” it would be considered flavored, according to Halfwheel.
The Vermont Senate passed S.B. 18 in late March, but it failed to get out of the Vermont House Committee on Human Services.
Several states in the Northeast have or are considering flavor bans. Connecticut also introduced a bill that would ban flavored e-cigarettes. New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island have barred the sale of flavored vaping products. Massachusetts banned all flavored tobacco items, including flavored cigars, cigarettes and vaping goods.
Vermont’s ban was originally proposed in early 2020 as a way to prevent youth use, but was sidelined after the Covid-19 pandemic began to impact the country.