Michigan Governor ‘Open’ to Taxing Vape as Tobacco

The governor of Michigan says she is “open” to the idea of expanding the state’s combustible tobacco taxation policy to include vaping products.

“I’m not leading with that… but if it’s something the legislature wanted to send to my desk, I’d have a conversation with them about it,” she said in a recent interview. “I’m open to it.”

She has also said she seeks to enact a flavor ban on tobacco products and would sign a bill if passed. In November, S.B. 649 was introduced in the Michigan Senate. 

The bill calls for the ban of the sales of flavored vaping and other tobacco products, defined as any product that has or is marketed as having a characterizing flavor other than tobacco.

The bill would ban the sale of products packaged in ways that “indicate, explicitly or implicitly, that the nicotine or tobacco product has characterizing flavor.”

That bill would not exempt flavored cigars, though it does carve out an exemption for flavored hookah tobacco intended for on-site consumption.