Category: Flavors

Chicago Flavor Ban Stalls in City Council Committee

Credit: Lance Anderson
A proposal to ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and other tobacco products in Chicago stalled in a City Council committee after running into an avalanche of opposition.
Owners of gas stations, convenience stores and tobacco stores — and trade groups representing them — showed up in force at the virtual meeting to accuse the City Council’s Committee on Health and Human Relations of “kicking them when they’re down,” according to an article in the Sun-Times.
They argued small businesses are fighting for survival after a double-whammy: first, the coronavirus pandemic; then, damage during civil unrest, which came when many were “woefully under-insured.”
The last thing they need is “legislative over-reach” that would cost them even more business, they said, noting that tobacco products account for 40% of revenue for a typical Chicago gas station — and that 52% of that tobacco revenue comes from flavored tobacco products.
“This is the equivalent to kicking this industry while they’re down. You not only lose out on flavored tobacco sales to adults. You lose a significant driver of other business. When people buy tobacco, they buy other things. So the business loses out on all of those sales. The city loses out on all of the revenue,” said Tanya Triche Dawood, vice president and general counsel for the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, the article states.
Dawood acknowledged there is “absolutely … an issue with teen vaping,” but it can be solved by “identifying products that are attractive to teens” and banning those — not by “taking products away from adults” like “tobacco- and menthol-flavored vapes,” she said.
“I’m not aware of any data that shows that pipe tobacco is gaining in popularity with teens. Neither is chew. Or even menthol cigarettes. But all of these products are included in this proposal,” Dawood said.
July 6, 2020
Last Day: New York State Vapor Ban Starts July 1

Credit: A Billion Lives
Tomorrow, July 1st, a ban on the sale of flavored vapor products, other than tobacco and menthol, goes into effect for the State of New York. Pharmacies will also no longer be permitted to sell any tobacco or nicotine product that isn’t an approved smoking cessation therapy.
Online sales of any e-liquids–regardless of flavor–are banned (vapor products are folded into the same provision that bans shipment of cigarettes to consumers). This does not include components or devices. The penalty for selling or shipping a vapor product to a consumer in NY is a Class A misdemeanor and carries a fine of $5000 or $100 per vapor product, according to the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA), a non-profit, grassroots organization.
A person other than a common or contract carrier can still transport vapor products, but there is now a limit of 500 milliliters or 3 grams of nicotine. Additionally, coupons or “price reduction instruments” for tobacco products are banned.

“Vapor manufacturers must post a detailed ingredient list including a disclosure of ‘the nature and extent of investigations and research performed by or for the manufacturer concerning the effects on human health of such product or its ingredients.’” writes Casaa. “Manufacturers are also required to list ‘each byproduct that may be introduced into vapor produced during the normal use of such e-cigarette.’ (this requirement does not apply to any other tobacco product).”
In April, New York became the fourth state in the U.S. to restrict the sale of flavored vaping products. The New York Assembly reluctantly passed S. 7506-B, a budget bill, which banned the sale of vapor products in flavors other than tobacco. The budget bill was heavily criticized because it debated and passed under cover of darkness, according to CASAA. “There were no opportunities for the public to weigh in on the bill unless you diligently followed the constantly changing bill numbers and language,” the organization wrote at the time.
June 30, 2020
Coalition Protests Australian Ban of Nicotine E-liquids

An Asia-Pacific coalition of tobacco harm reduction advocates has protested the ban imposed by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) on the importation of nicotine liquids, saying this will deprive millions of Australian vapers and existing smokers of their rights to access better alternatives to combustible cigarettes.
CAPHRA says the ban will only exacerbate the smoking problem which kills 21,000 Australians a year, according to a press release.
The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) said the ban on importation of vaping products for personal use into Australia effective 1 July means that cigarette smokers looking for safer alternatives will no longer be able to import these products for their own personal use.
The ban will cover e-cigarettes containing vaporizer nicotine (nicotine liquids and salts) and nicotine-containing refills. Only doctors or medical suppliers will be allowed to import these products as long as they have a permit from the Health Department.
CAPHRA says the ban will only exacerbate the smoking problem which kills 21,000 Australians a year.
According to the new regulatory framework, vapers will have to visit a general practitioner, get a prescription, and then obtain their vaping liquids from an approved medical dispensary.
“Smokers in Australia have been denied access to a proven harm reduction tool and vapers in Australia have yet again been dealt a potentially fatal blow which will see many of the 300,000 strong vaping community go back to smoking cigarettes,” CAPHRA Executive Director Nancy Loucas said in a statement.
June 23, 2020
Dutch Plan to Ban Flavored Vapor in 2021

The Netherlands plans to ban flavored vapor products beginning sometime next year. The goal is to make vaping less attractive to young people, the government said on Tuesday.
Flavors currently available range from mojito and strawberry ice cream to mango and chocolate, the government said. With its sweet tastes and perceived lower health risks, vaping has rapidly become popular among young non-smokers, who are often seen to use them as a stepping stone to regular tobacco products, according to an article from Reuters.
“It is unacceptable that 20,000 people die every year in our country from the effects of smoking and that every day around 75 kids start smoking”, deputy health minister Paul Blokhuis said. “The smoke-free generation we see coming also needs to be free of electronic cigarettes.”
The government will refine the tobacco law to include the ban on flavored e-cigarettes, which is likely to take effect in the first half of next year, the government said. Tobacco-flavored vaping products will remain available, mainly to help regular smokers kick their habit, it said.
A Dutch government report in 2017 said that over a quarter of people aged 12-16 said they had tried vaping at least once. Electronic cigarettes and water pipes have been banned in the Netherlands for anyone under the age of 18 since 2016.
June 23, 2020
Montana Vape Shop Owners Plan to Challenge Proposed Ban

Credit: Sarah J
The state health department wants to resurrect a ban on flavored e-cigarette sales in Montana. A temporary ban enacted late last year expired several months ago, and now the agency wants to permanently ban the sale of almost all flavored e-cigarette products, according to an article by Montana Public Radio.
Some Montana vape retailers are vowing to push back hard on the idea, leading to what may be the next legal battleground between those retailers and the administration of Gov. Steve Bullock, according to the story.
Last November, Massachusetts became the first to roll out restrictions of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes. New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island followed suit this year with bans on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes.
The proposal is being applauded by health officials and excoriated by industry businesses.
“I have a legal product in the state of Montana, a product that helps people,” Deanna Marshall said. “I am not going to stop selling this product.” Deanna and her husband Ron own Freedom Vapes, an independent e-cig retailer with stores in Bozeman, Belgrade and Hamilton.
“They can fine me, arrest me — whatever they have to do,” she said. “I’m going to keep selling it, and we’ll go to court then.” It wouldn’t be the first time the Marshalls and the local trade organization they belong to, the Montana Smoke Free Association, have squared off against the state health department.
Last fall, they sued to block the Bullock administration’s temporary ban on flavored vaping products. A district judge eventually upheld the ban.
June 19, 2020
Montana Latest State to Propose Ban on Flavored E-Liquids

Credit: Mark McCollom
The health department in the U.S. state of Montana is proposing a permanent ban on the sale of flavored vaping products in response to increasing youth e-cigarette use, the agency said Tuesday.
“This is a serious health issue in Montana that is causing major health consequences for our youth, driving a lifelong addiction to nicotine,” Sheila Hogan, director of the Department of Public Health and Human Services said in a statement.
An estimated 22,500 Montana middle and high school students currently vaping, the health department said in supporting the ban.
“Sadly, most individuals who are currently addicted to nicotine started using these products before the age of 18, and youth are enticed by the flavors,” Todd Harwell, the health department’s Safety Division administrator, said in a statement.
The department has the authority to adopt and enforce rules regarding public health issues. The agency will take public comments on the proposed rule during a virtual hearing on July 16, as well as by mail, fax or email through July 24.
June 17, 2020
Lawsuit Emerges Over Flavored Vapor in Palmdale

Photo: Oleg Dudko | Dreamstime.com
A newly enacted Palmdale city ordinance banning the sale of flavored e-cigarette products has vaping advocates fighting back, according to court papers.
The suit, filed by the California Smoke & Vape Association and tobacco retailer Cigs Plus against the city, alleges the law is “overbroad” and will “destroy Palmdale’s nicotine vapor product industry, and damage the livelihoods of the workers that it employs,” according to a story on pe.com.
The Los Angeles federal court complaint, filed Sunday, also contends that the ordinance “will likely precipitate a public health crisis, as vapor products users turn either to combustible cigarettes or to black market sources to obtain vapor tobacco products.”
A message seeking comment from Palmdale’s city attorney was not immediately answered, according to the story.
The law intends to curb tobacco use among youth, and also prohibits the sale of tobacco- and menthol-flavored vaping products, which have “little to no effect on the recent increase of youth tobacco consumption,” the lawsuit alleges.
The ban, approved by the City Council six months ago, is aimed at the fruit- and candy-flavored products popular among high school-aged youth.
The vape association is comprised of wholesalers, manufacturers of nicotine-containing flavored e-liquids, and brick-and-mortar retailers. The suit alleges that Cigs Plus and its employees “now face financial ruin as a result of the ordinance.”
The complaint seeks a court order permanently halting enforcement of the law, and reimbursement of legal fees.
June 9, 2020
Calls to Ban ‘Juul Replacement’ Puff Bar

Lawmakers in the U.S. House asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban Puff Bar. The disposable device is the fastest-growing vapor product on the market and has quickly replaced Juul as the vape of choice among young people, according to a story in The New York Times.
The disposable devices come in more than 20 flavors, among them piña colada, pink lemonade, watermelon and O.M.G. Puff Bar, which launched last year, has been the key beneficiary of an FDA loophole allowing flavors in disposable devices. Based on data used only for tracked channels, which include convenience stores and some other retailers but not online sales or vape shops, Puff Bar sales have consistently been over $3 million a week since April, with volumes now over 300,000 sticks per week.
“Puff Bar is quickly becoming the new Juul,” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Democrat of Illinois, wrote in a letter to the F.D.A. on Monday. Mr. Krishnamoorthi, the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, accused the e-cigarette company of exploiting the coronavirus to sell its products to schoolchildren.
To make his case, the lawmaker included a copy of a Puff Bar advertisement featuring a photograph of a bedroom, with the words: “We know that the inside-vibes have been … quite a challenge. Stay sane with Puff Bar this solo-break. We know you’ll love it. It’s the perfect escape from the back-to-back zoom calls, parental texts and WFH stress.”
Mr. Krishnamoorthi said that “this advertisement is designed to convince children home from school to vape in their rooms without their parents noticing.”
A second advertisement included in the complaint features an attractive young woman wearing a tight T-shirt and spewing big clouds of vapor. The same picture was used in a separate advertisement that suggested vaping a Puff Bar as a way to relax over spring break.
Todd Eric Gallinger, a lawyer who represented a company called Cool Clouds Distribution in a trademark application for the Puff logo, did not return a call seeking comment. The Puff Bar website does not list the names of any of the company’s executives. Indeed, since it began, the provenance of the Los Angeles-based business has been a secret. Its website states: “Who makes Puff Bar? Everyone wants to know the mastermind team behind the latest craze in the world of electronic cigarettes. Where did the Puff Bar team come from and where do they plan to go from here?”
Wherever it is, the company isn’t telling. The only details revealed indicate that the product is made in China and the flavors are developed in Malaysia.
The F.D.A. declined to discuss Puff Bar. Still, in an email, Mitchell Zeller, the director of the agency’s Center for Tobacco Products, wrote that the agency intended to take action against any electronic nicotine product “if it is targeted to youths, if its marketing is likely to promote use by minors, or if the manufacturer fails to take adequate measures to prevent minors’ access, according to the story.
In recent weeks, the agency has blocked the importing of two e-cigarette products from China: EonSmoke, which sold disposable e-cigarettes in a number of flavors before shutting down, and RELX, available in flavors including Drunk in Mexico, Naked in Iceland and Mango
June 3, 2020
Massachusetts Flavor Ban Takes Effect

Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive
The sale of flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, has become illegal in Massachusetts as of today.
Massachusetts became the first state to approve such a ban when Governor Charlie Baker signed the bill in November.
The law applies to the sale of all flavored tobacco products in Massachusetts retail stores and online.
Cigar bars, hookah lounges and other licensed venues can continue selling flavored tobacco as long as these products are consumed on-site.
Massachusetts’ decision to extend the ban to menthol flavors has been contentious in part because studies have shown menthol cigarettes are consumed disproportionately by minorities, which activists have warned could lead to disproportionate police enforcement in the black community.
June 1, 2020