South Carolina lawmakers are considering several proposals banning local governments from passing more regulations on vaping and other tobacco products.
The measures grandfathers in any local ordinances enacted before Dec. 31, 2020. It would also ban cities from creating their own tobacco licensing rules.
Dozens of public health groups like the American Cancer Society oppose the bills, according to WLTX.
The State’s Tobacco Tax brought in Nearly $30 million in 2022, according to the Office of Revenue and Fiscal Affairs. Supporters like Moe Raed, manager of Day and Night vape shop, say regulations are bad for business and should be uniform across the state.
Day and Night opened in Columbia two months ago. “Yeah we’ve been having good business lately,” said Raed, adding that more than half the store’s revenue comes from vape and e-cigarette sales.
“People lately have been giving up tobacco since it’s more expensive,” said Raed. He believes his adult customers shouldn’t be restricted on what products they can buy. “I don’t let anyone under 21 through these doors,” he said. “A lot of smoke shops will close. And it will hurt a lot of business and a lot of people too.”
There are currently no cities in South Carolina looking to restrict tobacco sales. The bill does not affect local governments’ ability to regulate where tobacco businesses can locate.
An identical bill has been introduced over the past six years and has failed to pass.
South Carolina is one of 10 states that don’t license Tobacco sellers. A bill to do so last year got stuck in a subcommittee after facing opposition from convenience store owners.
A bill that aims to exclude vapes or e-cigarettes from tobacco regulations passed Friday in the Montana House.
The bill’s sponsor Rep. Ron Marshall said marijuana and alcohol aren’t regulated the same way, and he doesn’t think cigarettes and vapes should be either. according to the Fairfield Sun Times.
“Each one is in its own lane,” said Marshall, who is married to the owner of Freedom Vapes in Hamilton.
On second reading, 57 representatives voted yes, and 42 voted no on House Bill 293. It needs to pass third reading next.
Some legislators who voted against the bill said they worry it’s going to put more dangerous products in the hands of children.
The Montana legislature in 2021 passed a bill that blocks local governments from banning the sale of flavored vaping products.
Elected officials in New Mexico are hoping a new batch of bills that aim to make it harder to buy and use vaping and other tobacco products lay the groundwork for a statewide ban.
State Sen. Martin Hickey, told KOB4 news that he knows there’s not much lawmakers can do to keep lifelong smokers away from cigarettes – but he believes they have a duty to protect younger generations from the threat of addiction.
Hickey is also a physician, and he believes the state is losing the battle against teen vaping.
“The trends are, they’re going up, we were waiting to get another survey and I bet we’re probably moving close to 50 percent of high school students,” he said.
Hickey also said those trends are skewing younger.
“Apparently nine out of 10 middle school students have tried vaping,” he said.
Hickey offered no evidence to support his claims.
Since 2019, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of high school students who have tried vaping (1 time in the last 30 days) has dropped by 50 percent, and the number of middle school students has plummeted by 70 percent. During that same time period, the number of high-school students who “frequently” vape dropped by 37 percent and the number of middle school students dropped by 65 percent.
Looking at just middle school students, the CDC reports that 3.3 percent use vaping products.
Hickey admits there are likely too many barriers to enact a statewide vaping ban, but that’s why he and other state lawmakers are putting forth a menu of bills working to chip away at the problem.
Some of the ideas include raising tobacco taxes, banning flavored products, and allowing local governments to enact tougher restrictions against smoking. There are also proposals to prohibit smoking in racinos (a combined race track and casino) and fund prevention programs.
“Whatever doesn’t make it, we’re coming back, because this is so critical and fundamental to youth health,” Hickey said. “I mean, it’s, again, think of it as a chain reaction, it starts here with vaping.”
Officials in Key West, Florida banned smoking and vaping at Key West’s parks and beaches when they met on Feb. 7. But, not entirely.
Cigar smoking is still allowed. The state won’t let local governments restrict it. The city commission also can’t restrict the use of prescription medications, which for millions of Americans now includes marijuana, according to Keys Weekly.
So, while the goal is eliminating cigarette butts from beaches and parks, it’ll be interesting to see how enforcement of the new ban goes.
Any person who violates the rule commits a noncriminal violation, punishable by a fine of not more than $100 for the first violation and not more than $500 for each subsequent violation.
The government in the Philippines is being urged to raise the minimum age of people allowed to use vaping products to 25, ban flavored products, online sales, and “eventually” e-cigarettes entirely.
Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance Executive Director Ulysses Dorotheo said also wants the introduction of “standardized packaging” on vaping products – removing colors, scents, and indications of flavors in a proposal issued to lawmakers during a Senate committee hearing on sustainable development goals, innovation, and future thinking on Friday.
“To raise the minimum age to 25 which is the cut-off for adolescent brain development so as to reduce the risk of nicotine addiction,” he said, reports the Inquirer.
Individuals as young as 18 years old may legally smoke vaping products in the Philippines.
The country’s Food and Drug Administration backed the suggestion of Dorotheo.
Restricting the sales of vaping products online is likewise pushed by Dorothero, noting it “is where our youth spend much of their time.”
Further, Dorotheo sought to increase the excise taxes on vaping products, pointing out that a lower tax rate is levied on such items compared to tobacco products.
Dorotheo eventually emphasized that the “long-term ideal outcome” is to ban vaping products.
The Philippine Tobacco Industry (PTI) recently called on the Philippines’ Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to crack down on illicit vapor products.
“This measure is not in the public interest, therefore, just a few minutes ago, I vetoed this bill, “ DeWine announced Thursday morning at a news conference.
Lawmakers had passed the legislation during the lame duck session of the Ohio General Assembly mere days after Columbus officials voted to ban the sale of flavored and menthol tobacco products in the state’s largest city, starting in 2024.
During the nearly 17-hour marathon debate session last month, lawmakers argued allowing cities to make tobacco rules could cause cities like Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus to ban anything considered unhealthy.
Opponents argued that the state proposal would have acted as a broader “preemption” law, stopping cities from passing local ordinances beyond state law on new fees or taxes on tobacco products or raising the age to buy them, according to Cleveland.com.
Speaking to reporters, DeWine said Ohio is in the midst of an epidemic where a growing number young people are starting to “vape” or smoke e-cigarettes at younger ages.
Defenders of preemption laws often cite a need for uniformity in laws across the state and an aversion to a patchwork of different rules in different Ohio cities. DeWine said young people’s lives are more important than uniformity.
As of September last year, 24 states have laws preempting local ordinances restricting sales of tobacco to young people, according to the CDC. Both state and federal law prohibit vendors from selling tobacco products to anyone younger than 21.
New e-cigarette legislation in the U.S. state of Ohio is awaiting a decision by the state’s governor, Mike DeWine. The law would ban any local jurisdiction from implementing tobacco laws that are more strict than state laws.
“We are kind of sitting on the edge of our seats waiting,” said Dr. Angelica Hardee, vice president of community impact for the Greater Cincinnati Heart Association.
Lawmakers wrote House Bill 513 to ease burdens on wholesale tobacco, Ohio’s fourth largest source of tax revenue. However, its fate hinges on an amendment that invites debate on freedom and health.
“The issue of home rule is very, very important,” DeWine said last week during an interview with WCPO 9 News, content partners of the Journal-News.
The cities of Cincinnati, Norwood, Hamilton and Middletown have stronger tobacco policies than the state.
Supporters include the Ohio Wholesale Marketers Association. The group’s executive director, Beth Wymer, told WCPO 9 News that without uniform tobacco regulation across the state, buyers will purchase more tobacco products from unregulated sellers and in neighboring states, which hurts Ohio’s tax revenue, Wymer said.
“Do we want Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Kenton, Bellefontaine, Findlay saying, ‘Listen, just like the mayor of New York did, we’re going to get rid of the Big Gulp,’” Ohio House Rep. Jon Cross of District 83 asked in session two weeks ago. “‘We’re going to get rid of the Big Gulp. No 32-ounce cokes.’ This provision talks about the tobacco side of it.”
Without tipping his hand, DeWine told WCPO 9 News last week that allowing cities home rule is important but different with tobacco because of its impact.
“Sure it’s an individual choice (to smoke),” DeWine said during the interview last week. “No one is telling you you can’t smoke. But the cost to you as a taxpayer for paying for people on Medicaid who have cancer or have other problems because of smoking is in the hundreds of hundreds of millions of dollars each year. So it co
With Republicans in control of the U.S. House, some experts expect the vape industry to thrive.
By Timothy S. Donahue
The next two years should be better than the past two years. That was the overall outlook from vapor industry experts speaking during the Vapor Technology Association’s (VTA) 2022 Post-Election Round-Up webinar in late November. Tony Abboud, executive director of the VTA, told attendees that his organization has been working diligently with two Washington, D.C.-based firms, West Front Strategies, a lobbying group, and FORA Partners, a public affairs agency, to promote the interests of the vaping industry as Republicans take over the U.S. House of Representatives in 2023. “We have a very specific agenda, some of which we’ve discussed (as an overview of what) we are pursuing,” he said. “We’ve done an enormous amount of groundwork.”
Shimmy Stein
Shimmy Stein, a partner with West Front Strategies, said the change in leadership at the House could have a positive impact on the vaping industry until at least the next election cycle. “Anytime you can take over the gavels, take over the control of the messaging, take over control of the chairmanships and the legislation, that is an important piece of governing,” he explained. “And so, while it was not to the extent or to the size which Republicans were hoping for in terms of the majority in the House of Representatives, it’s still pretty significant and will change the manner in which Washington will function.”
Over the next two years, the vaping industry should feel “a little more comfortable, a little more secure” going into a divided Congress (the U.S. Senate leadership did not change), according to Craig Kalkut, a partner with West Front Strategies. However, the vaping industry has always faced threats from both Democrats and Republicans due to their concerns over teen vaping. “We still need to work with both parties. We still could face issues and threats of overregulation and poorly conceived legislation. But the bottom line is that we will have a more comfortable environment with Republicans controlling one house of Congress,” said Kalkut.
Craig Kalkut
Reconciliation, a way for Congress to enact legislation on taxes, spending and the debt limit with only a majority vote, is no longer a threat to the vapor industry, according to Kalkut. He said that’s just not something that can happen in a divided Congress. “What that means, ultimately, is that anything that passes will need to have bipartisan support,” said Kalkut. “And because of that, [legislation] will likely be more limited, more moderate, and hopefully, if there’s any legislation passed in our area, that will be something that allows us to thrive, which addresses the concerns that linger over teen vaping but does not overregulate and drive people away from vaping.”
Kalkut also confirmed that gridlock is a concern in a divided Congress; however, gridlock could also provide incentives for both parties to compromise. “They’re both seen as in charge, so they both sometimes want to get something done. And that will bring people to the table and often over issues that are not central to either party’s ideology,” he said. “It’s hard to come to a compromise on taxes, or it’s hard to come to a compromise on healthcare … but something like vaping, perhaps there will be opportunity for common sense provisions to prevail in an area where Democrats and Republicans can come together.”
Max Hamel
Max Hamel, founding partner of FORA, said when Congress is split, the White House typically relies heavily on its executive privilege. There is no known administration agenda on vaping, so a vaping-related rule is unlikely. With Republicans in control of the House, they also head committees. The House oversight committee and its subcommittees could present opportunity for the vaping industry, according to Hamel.
“We do have new personalities on both the majority and the minority side, so they’ll probably have some growing pains,” he said. “The big question is, how does this new authority, especially in the House, get wielded[?] … whether it’s one seat or 40 seats, the authority with the majority is the same, and it is substantial from [an] investigation and oversight standpoint; [that’s] probably not necessarily true from a legislative standpoint … the oversight subcommittee, we do have the opportunity to surface some things, but it’s really an opportunity for us now to not be on defense and [to] put forth an agenda and some messaging that really focuses on the things that are advantageous to us.”
Additionally, with Juul losing its stranglehold on the vaping market, Hamel said the vaping landscape is changing. Juul became the focus to save youth from vaping, and today, Juul isn’t the focus. The market is made up of a more diverse group of companies with different technologies dedicated to harm reduction. Hamel said this is the message that should be projected. “I think our priority will be focusing on the messages that really emphasize the harm reduction aspects,” he said.
Kalkut then added that the vaping industry has an opportunity now to change the conversation, particularly with Democrats but also Republican critics and skeptics of vaping through the ever-expanding body of science that shows the relative safety and incredible potential for harm reduction that next-generation tobacco products have. “That has become more and more clear as time has gone on over the last couple of years,” he said. “I think once we show that, once we demonstrate our commitment as an association in the industry to addressing teen vaping, we have a real chance of changing the narrative.”
Ashley Davis
Ashley Davis, a founding partner at West Front Strategies, told attendees that, looking back on industry challenges, there has been success. However, her concerns going into the last Congress (2020–2022) were that she didn’t really know in what direction or how forcefully Biden would lean on the vapor industry. She says the industry “dodged a bullet.” The industry could have suffered more than it did those first two years in a Biden administration. She also said the issue of youth use will remain at the forefront of any discussion concerning electronic nicotine-delivery system products.
“We do have to still deal with the youth issue. And I think we all realize that any negative press that comes up is around the youth issue … Everyone loves a microphone. It’s a member of Congress. If there’s an issue to discuss, that’s what they’re going to discuss,” explained Davis. “[We are] trying to make sure that any bad legislation is not passed—it’s much more unlikely in this Congress than it was before.”
Taking a question from the audience, Abboud closed the session speculating on the impact of the Reagan-Udall Foundation’s external review of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products, the results of which are expected in mid-December.
Abboud said that numerous comments from staffers of the FDA for the Reagan-Udall assessment suggest the regulatory agency is in a state of disarray and is being influenced by outside forces not scientific research. He said he hopes the foundation will advise the FDA that premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) decisions should be free from any external pressures, especially political pressure.
“[The review should recommend to the FDA that PMTA] decisions must be made based upon the science that is submitted as well as making sure that the agency does, in fact, review all of the science that has been submitted as part of any applications as well as [reviewing] all of the applications that have [been] submitted,” said Abboud. “Because that was another big failing of the current process where applications have been rejected [without a full review].”
Renters West Hollywood (WeHo), California, will soon be banned from using e-cigarettes inside their apartment. The ordinance also includes the patio or balcony.
A new section of the WeHo municipal code goes into effect Jan. 1 that prohibits smoking in “existing units” in multi-family dwellings, which basically means most apartments and duplex rentals.
The city defines “smoking” as cigarettes, cannabis and tobacco vapes, and other products made from tobacco and/or nicotine, such as heat-not-burn products and hookah, according to media reports.
Those caught breaking the new rule are subject to a fine ranging from $100 to $500. However, violations can not be grounds for eviction or imprisonment.
Using cannabis vapes remains legal if for medical purposes. “The City Council further finds that, in the interest of the public health and welfare, imposing restrictions on smoking or vaping cannabis in the privacy of one’ s residence is not warranted for tenants that consume cannabis for medicinal, therapeutic or recreational purposes,” the council stated. “State law does not allow cannabis smoking in public places and prohibiting cannabis consumption in private units would not leave available safe alternatives.”
A Metro Council proposal in Nasheville, Tennessee that would ban vaping and smoking, even in 21-and-up bars, makes an exception for cigar bars. But hookah lounges and a new cannabis restaurant could be forced to change their businesses if the ordinance passes.
Anyone who works at or patronizes Alladin’s Hookah Lounge & Bar on Elliston Place in Nashville knows they will be surrounded by tobacco smoke. Bar manager Amy Abrecht says communal smoking is the whole point, according to WLPN.
Members of the Metro Council acknowledged in a hearing this month that hookah bars were an oversight. Sponsor Jeff Syracuse also said a new cannabis restaurant called Buds & Brews that offers vaping as part of the experience raised concerns.
“I don’t want to drive out of business new businesses that weren’t expecting this,” Councilmember Freddie O’Connell said at the meeting Aug. 16, when the ordinance was deferred to Sept. 20. “I don’t want to have this conflict emerge that we can’t work around.”
The problem is the Metro Council can’t simply amend the proposed ordinance. The city had to get legislation passed at the state level to be granted authority to ban smoking in 21-and-up bars. So adding an exception beyond cigar bars will take an act of the General Assembly too, which isn’t scheduled to meet again until next year.
