Tag: legislation

Connecticut Lawmakers Want More Vape Legislation
Vaping products are going to be much harder to sell in Connecticut under bills that are being introduced in the General Assembly, including a ban on the sale of all nicotine products in pharmacies, and e-cigarettes within five miles of schools.
Credit: Haiberliu
Lawmakers are also expected to reintroduce legislation from Gov. Lamont that failed in the closure of the General Assembly last March, to ban flavored vaping devices, in attempt to prevent teenagers and young adults from starting what data show can become lifetime habits, according to an article in the Middletown Press.
Several of the bills, including the outright ban on refillable e-cigarettes and vaping products in the state, have been introduced by state Sen. Saud Anwar, a physician from South Windsor who serves as vice chairman of the Public Health Committee.
“Many of the children are facing life-long addictions and we must do something,” Anwar, a Democrat, said in a Friday interview. He said that it is hypocritical for pharmacies on the one hand to be places where health aids, drugs and vaccines are available, while the nicotine-based e-cigarettes and vaping materials are in the same place.
The five-mile zone around schools would also include neighborhood variety stores and gas stations. Another bill would require Connecticut buyers of online nicotine-delivery products to produce proof of their age before transactions can be completed.
Kevin O’Flaherty, regional director of advocacy for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said Friday said the organization’s main goal this year is to eliminate all flavored tobacco products, including cigarettes, mirroring a law that took effect last year in Massachusetts.
“We’ve got to protect kids from these flavors,” O’Flaherty said. “We really want all flavors off the market. You just have to do it that way. Smoking overall is going down. If we are serious about ending the cycle of addiction, we have to nip it in the bud. All of Connecticut’s neighbors have banned all flavored e-cigarettes, but only Massachusetts has banned flavored tobacco too.”
A spokesman for the vapor company Juul Labs, said Friday that with a customer base of one billion adults, it is committed to keeping children away from using its products, while helping grown-ups wean themselves from smoking. In September of 2019, the company ceased all marketing and advertising.
“We will continue to reset the vapor category in the U.S. and seek to earn the trust of society by working cooperatively with attorneys general, legislators, regulators, public health officials, and other stakeholders to combat underage use and transition adult smokers from combustible cigarettes,” the spokesman said.
At Puff City on River Road in Shelton, Matt Genc, a partner in the three-year-old smoke shop, says any state laws are part of the cost of doing business. He said that banning flavored vapes would hurt sales, but that the store obeys all rules. “Whatever is legal, we’re selling and whatever is not legal, we’re not selling,” Genc said in a Friday phone interview.
January 12, 2021
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
Alberta Introduces Bill to Regulate Vaping

Credit: Chris Henry
The Canadian Province of Alberta has introduced new legislation on vaping that would include a ban on anyone under 18 from using e-cigarettes.
Health Minister Tyler Shandro says there is mounting evidence on the health risks of vaping and statistics show more young people in Alberta are indulging, according to a story in the Eckville Echo. “Strong action needs to be taken to address significant increases in youth vaping,” Shandro said Tuesday prior to introducing the bill in the house.
Shandro’s ministry says that in the last five years, vaping rates among high school students has risen to 30 per cent from eight. It also says evidence continues to show health risks, including lung damage and nicotine poisoning.
Alberta is the only province without vaping legislation. If the bill passes, there would be restrictions — matching those in place for traditional tobacco products — on displaying and promoting vaping products in stores. Speciality vape stores would be exempt.
The province said it does not intend to ban or restrict flavors for e-cigarettes, but the bill proposes cabinet be allowed to make such restrictions once the law is passed and proclaimed.
The legislation would also expand the list of places where traditional smoking and vaping would be banned — adding playgrounds, sports fields, skateboard and bicycle parks, and public outdoor pools — to further avoid exposing youth to products and second-hand smoke.
The legislation follows a review of vaping that began last year. The government said 250 people were consulted and another 9,500 provided online comments, according to the story.
June 4, 2020
Maryland Governor Vetoes Vapor Tax

Photo: Getulio Moraes
The US state of Maryland’s Governor vetoed vapor tax legislation in House Bill 732. The vapor industry initially faced an 86 percent wholesale tax on all vapor products, which included devices and liquids.
The Maryland General Assembly spent a majority of the legislative session in search of new revenues to fill budget gaps and eventually turned its attention to vapor products, according to Tony Abboud, executive director for the Vapor Technology Association (VTA).
The VTA and the Maryland Vapor Alliance (MVA) engaged key committee members, participated in hearings, and worked behind the scenes to offer alternatives to the 86 percent tax, according to a press note. “After much debate, the General Assembly decided to move forward with a 12 percent point of sale tax on devices and liquids with an exception on containers under 5 milliliters, which would have a 60 percent wholesale tax,” the note states. “After the tax passed, VTA and MVA worked to educate the Governor’s Office on the adverse impact such a tax would have on Maryland small businesses.”
Governor Larry Hogan then vetoed the legislation. “These misguided bills would raise taxes and fees on Marylanders at a time when many are already out of work and financially struggling. With our state in the midst of a global pandemic and economic crash, and just beginning on our road to recovery, it would be unconscionable to raise taxes and fees now,” Hogan said.

In Maryland, a three-fifths vote of the elected members of both chambers is necessary to override the Governor’s veto. Because there were several tax increases vetoed, there could be efforts in the General Assembly to override the veto, according to the VTA.
May 8, 2020
U.S. Fourth Circuit Denies PMTA Appeal

Photo: Skypixel | Dreamstime.com
The Fourth Circuit on Monday dismissed an appeal from various vaping groups challenging a compliance deadline for vapor products. The decision states that January directives from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have rendered the appeal moot.
In a per curiam opinion, the appellate judges held that guidance issued by the FDA in January moots the vape groups’ appeal because that guidance supersedes older directives from August 2017 at issue in the appeal and leaves “no possible meaningful relief” that the court could grant, according to law360.com.
“Any ruling by this court as to the procedural or substantive reasonableness of the August 2017 guidance would amount to nothing more than an advisory opinion,” the court said.
The appeal stems from a Maryland district court ruling that ordered the agency to set a May 2020 deadline for premarket tobacco product applications (PMTA) on smokeless tobacco products. The FDA, along with various health and anti-vaping groups, had argued that the January guidance restricting the sale of flavored, cartridge-based vapes rendered moot the vape groups’ appeal.
“Because the enforcement timetable for e-cigarettes set out in the January 2020 guidance is independent of the district court’s order, an order by this court reversing the district court would have no effect on FDA’s enforcement of the statute and regulations against e-cigarette manufacturers,” the agency had previously said.
But the vape groups disagreed, saying the January guidance was enacted without proper notice-and-comment procedures, according to the opinion.
While the court said it can’t offer the vape groups relief in this case, the panel added in a footnote that the groups can challenge the January guidance in a separate action in federal court. The panel also ruled that a Maryland district court did not abuse its discretion in denying cigar industry groups’ motion to intervene, saying those groups did not intervene in a timely manner.
Counsel for the cigar and vape groups and a representative of the FDA did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.
Last month, a Maryland federal judge said that in light of the coronavirus pandemic, he would grant a 120-day extension to the May 12 deadline for e-cigarette PMTAs, which have proceeded slowly since the FDA first determined vapes should be regulated like tobacco products. The new deadline is Sept. 9, 2020.
The FDA had previously asked the Fourth Circuit for approval for the lower court to extend the May deadline, saying it would not affect the merits of the appeal brought by the industry groups. The FDA said many of the laboratories and research organizations conducting the clinical trials for the regulatory applications have shut down or otherwise halted in-person testing in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Public health groups previously sought to accelerate the FDA’s regulation of vaping products under the Tobacco Control Act, citing vaping-related lung injuries that sickened thousands of people and left nearly 70 dead in 2019. In July 2019, a Maryland district judge effectively allowed the FDA to set the May 2020 deadline, prompting the vape groups to claim the decision was an arbitrary overextension of both the FDA and the court’s authority.
The vape groups had also argued that the May deadline left too little time for manufacturers to file complete applications. Cigar industry groups that filed joint briefs on appeal argued that the district court’s order on deadlines unfairly ensnared cigar and pipe tobacco manufacturers as well.
May 5, 2020