Author: Staff Writer

Flavor Ban Talks Delayed to February in Loveland, Colorado
Loveland City Council members will put off voting on a ban that may target sales of flavored vaping, smoking and tobacco products until Feb. 16, after a marathon six hours of debate and public comment during Tuesday’s meeting.
Credit: Haiberliu
Council members voted 6-2 to postpone the item, with Mayor Jacki Marsh and Ward II councilor Andrea Samson opposed, and Ward I councilor Richard Ball absent, despite joining for part of the discussion, according to an article in the Loveland Reporter-Reporter.
On Nov. 24, council members voted 6-3 to pass the ban on first reading, with Steve Olson of Ward III and Dave Clark and Don Overcash of Ward IV opposed. A second vote was pushed from Dec. 1 to Tuesday after that agenda item similarly ran late.
Marsh stressed the public health impact of smoking and said she planned to vote “yes” again on the ban. Samson pointed out the 10-plus hours of public comment heard by the council, including concerns shared by members of Loveland’s business community, and questioned the need for more outreach.
December 10, 2020
Tennessee Revenue Dept. says ‘No Tobacco, No Tax’
The Tennessee Department of Revenue stated in a notice on Wednesday that e-cigarettes, vape devices and hemp and herbal cigarettes without tobacco aren’t subject to the state’s tobacco tax.
Credit: ICB
When hemp and herbal product cigarettes don’t contain tobacco, they aren’t subject to the state’s tobacco tax, according to Notice 20-21, according to an article on law360.com.
E-cigarettes and vape devices transform liquids into gas and allow inhalation of vapor. While the liquid cartridges can contain nicotine and other compounds, they’re not subject to the tobacco tax because they don’t contain tobacco, the notice said. Smokeless oral nicotine patches also are not subject to the tobacco tax, the notice said.
The notice also said that while many new products are being introduced in the state, some with nicotine and others packaged like tobacco products, the department will not apply the tobacco tax to nontobacco products without statutory clarification on what is considered a tobacco substitute.
Tennessee imposes a tax on the privilege of selling cigarette and tobacco products. Cigarettes are taxed at 62 cents per pack of 20, and other tobacco products like cigars and snuff are taxed at 6.6% of the wholesale cost, the notice said.
December 10, 2020
Apartment Smoking Ban Sent Back to Committee

Photo: ninjason from Pixabay
San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors on Tuesday rejected a proposed ban on smoking or vaping tobacco in apartments that it voted for just last week, reports The San Francisco Examiner.
The board must approve legislation in two separate votes. Typically, the second vote is perfunctory.
Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who initially supported the ban, said that he heard from many long-term tenants on fixed income raising concerns about the proposal since his vote and he was “remarkably moved in the last week by what I have heard from them.”
Critics expressed concern about the impacts the measure could have on longstanding renters, including fines of up to $1,000 per day and the potential for tenant harassment. The proposal does say a violation could not be grounds for an eviction.
“I really am fearful that the unintended impacts could cause more harm to long term tenants in my district and other districts,” Peskin said. “I do want to address the harm of secondhand smoke in multi-unit residential buildings, but I think there are better ways to address this.”
Approval of the legislation, which controversially exempted marijuana smoking, would have made San Francisco the largest city in the United States to adopt a smoking ban in multi-unit buildings.
Board President Norman Yee’s said he was disappointed by the failure of the measure to pass in the second vote.
“Today’s vote failed to prioritize the health of our most vulnerable community members,” Yee said. “It is completely backwards that we would defend the rights of people to smoke in their own homes over the rights of others to breathe safely.”
December 9, 2020
Malaysia to Place Excise Tax on Vapor Starting 2021

Credit: Peter Nguyen
All imported electronic cigarettes, e-juices and other vaping products, including non-nicotine types, will face an excise duty beginning Jan. 1, 2021. Exceptions will be given to local manufacturers, Customs Department director-general Abdul Latif Abdul Kadir said today.
Excise duty would be charged on the devices at an “ad valorem” (according to value) rate of 10 percent, while liquids and gels will be charged a rate of SEN0.40 for each millilitre, he said.
Abdul Latif said local manufacturers would be licensed under Section 20 of the Excise Act 1976 with a licence payment of RM4,800 a year ($1,779), while the warehouse licence fees under Section 25 of the same Act would be RM2,400 a year, according to an article in Free Malaysia Today.
“Local manufacturers have to apply at the respective zone or state Customs Department offices where the factory or warehouse is located before Dec 15, 2020,” he said in a statement today.
Among other things, the applicants will have to declare the raw ingredients list, finished products list, manufacturing flow chart, annual manufacturing capacity, and acknowledgment of nicotine content in liquid or gel.
“Licence holders are required to comply with licensing guidelines and to attach a bank guarantee to secure the duty or tax,” he said.
Abdul Latif said manufacturers could refer to the FAQ page regarding the excise duty at the Customs website.
December 8, 2020
Loveland, Colorado to Continue Flavor Ban Talks Today
After a debate over flavored vaping products ran late during its last session, Loveland’s City Council will try to finish that agenda Tuesday. If a majority of the council votes in favor of the ban a second time, retailers of tobacco and vaping products will be able to apply for licenses starting Jan. 1, and they’ll have through July 1 to clear their remaining inventory of banned items.
Credit: Vaporesso
Council members voted 6-3 on Nov. 24 to introduce the ban, which was recommended by a panel of public health experts and anti-smoking advocates as a way of curbing underaged vaping, according to the Loveland Reporter-Herald.
The ordinance would ban sales of flavored e-juices, flavored smokeless tobacco, menthol cigarettes and any other non-tobacco-flavored vaping or smoking products.
Critics have attacked the ban as overbroad and unfair for law-abiding businesses and consumers, particularly the ban on flavored dip and menthols.
December 8, 2020
FDA Approves PMTA for IQOS 3 Sales in U.S. Market

Credit: Altria Group
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the commercialization of the IQOS 3 heated tobacco product. Today, the Altria Group said the authorization follows review of the IQOS 3 premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) submitted by Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI).
Philip Morris USA (PM USA), under an exclusive agreement with PMI, commercializes the IQOS system in the U.S. with three HeatStick variants. Unlike cigarettes, the IQOS system heats but does not burn tobacco. IQOS 3 offers several enhancements to the IQOS 2.4 currently being sold in select U.S. markets, including a longer battery life, faster re-charging time, a side opening mechanism, and magnetic closure, according to a press release.
“Altria’s 10-year vision is to responsibly lead the transition of adult smokers to a non-combustible future. IQOS is a key part of that future and we’re excited to build on our first-mover advantage with the enhanced IQOS 3 device which has performed successfully in international markets,” said Jon Moore, president and CEO of PM USA.
IQOS is currently available in the Atlanta, Georgia, Richmond, Virginia and Charlotte, North Carolina markets. With PMTA authorization of IQOS 3, PM USA expects to begin quickly marketing the IQOS 3 device to U.S. adult smokers once the regulatory and U.S. importation logistics have been satisfied.
To secure market authorization under a PMTA, U.S. federal law obligates an applicant to demonstrate that marketing of a new tobacco product is appropriate for the protection of public health and requires the FDA to consider the risks and benefits to the population as a whole, including users and non-users of tobacco products.
On March 30, 2020, PMI submitted a supplemental PMTA to the FDA for the IQOS 3 tobacco heating system device. The original IQOS 2.4 device was authorized by the FDA for commercialization in the U.S. on April 30, 2019.
December 7, 2020
Biden Nominates Becerra for Health and Human Services

Xavier Becerra (Photo: State of California Department of Justice)
U.S. President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. has selected Xavier Becerra, the Democratic attorney general of California, as his nominee for secretary of health and human services, reports The New York Times.
As attorney general in California, Becerra has been at the forefront of legal efforts on health care, leading 20 states and the District of Columbia in a campaign to protect the Affordable Care Act from being dismantled by his Republican counterparts. He has also been vocal in the Democratic Party about fighting for women’s health.
In a tweet, Derek Yach, president of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, described the choice as a “serious missed opportunity.”
“At a time of public health crisis deep expertise in public health, medicine and science should matter,” Yacht wrote. “Sadly, this is not apparent in the pick of the lead cabinet health voice.”
The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates the tobacco industry in the United States, is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. It is currently led by Alex Azar.
December 7, 2020
New York Attorney General Cracks Down on Vape Shops
New York Attorney General Letitia James ordered dozens of retailers across the state to immediately stop selling flavored e-cigarette and vaping products and to end underage sales. New York banned flavored vaping products statewide as of May 2020.
New York Attorney General Letitia James
James’ office issued cease and desist letters to 47 retailers that were illegally selling tobacco products throughout New York. The shops were located in the cities and counties of Albany, Buffalo, Elmira, Hamilton, Nassau, Rochester, Saratoga County, Syracuse, Warren County, Watertown, and the New York City area, according to a press release.
“New York banned flavored vaping products and raised the age to buy tobacco products because teens were getting addicted to the dangerous habit of smoking,” said James. “These businesses skirted the law, jeopardizing the health of young New Yorkers. We will remain vigilant in holding anyone accountable who endanger our children by circumventing our laws.”
The release states that investigators discovered retailers selling nicotine products to underage customers and selling flavored nicotine vaping products. Some shops were also selling nicotine-free flavored liquid alongside vaping products for customers to create their own flavored vaping products.
The illicit products were sold both in the open and secretly from behind the counter, according to the release.
December 5, 2020
U.S. House Passes Marijuana Act, Senate Stall Expected
In a vote mostly along party lines, the U.S. House of Representatives approved decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level on Friday. It’s the first time Congress has acted on the issue.
Credit: Louis Velazquez
The vote passed 228-164 with five Republicans and the lone independent member joined Democrats to pass the bill. Six Democrats voted no.
Branded as the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (MORE Act) the bill removes marijuana from the list of federally controlled substances. It also facilitates canceling low-level federal convictions and arrests related to marijuana.
The legislation is not expected to pass in the Republican-controlled Senate, according to NPR.
The bill is a way for Democrats to send a message about their outlook on drugs in a nation where more cities and states already have become more accepting. It creates an excise tax on cannabis sales and directs the money to be targeted to communities adversely affected by the so-called war on drugs.
The bill specifically adds incentives for minority-owned businesses to help them enter the cannabis market, which has exploded in recent years given the relaxation in controls in some places within the United States.
December 4, 2020
U.S. House to Vote on Legal Marijuana Bill Today
The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on marijuana legalization at the federal level today, the first time either chamber of Congress has voted on the matter.
The bill is likely to pass the chamber, but the U.S. Senate is unlikely to take up the legislation in the last two weeks Congress is in session this year, according to an article in USA Today.
Credit: Richard T. Yovh
The measure, sponsored by Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., would remove marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances and expunge some marijuana-related criminal records. It would still be up to states to pass their own regulations on the sale of marijuana.
Nadler told USA TODAY in September the vote on the bill would be a “historic vote” as the federal government put an end to its “40-year, very misguided crusade” against marijuana.
He highlighted provisions in the MORE Act that fund community programs to benefit people previously convicted of marijuana-related offenses. He said the provisions were about “making people whole from harms suffered directly as a result of the marijuana ban,” which he said disproportionately affected racial minorities.
Advocates see the vote as a part of a move toward “justice.”
“With this vote, Congress is recognizing the disproportionate impact enforcement has had on our communities and calling for the unjust status quo to be disrupted,” said Maritza Perez, director of the office of national affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance, a group advocating for the decriminalization of drugs.
December 4, 2020