Tag: regulation

  • Lawmakers to Let Vermont Veto of Flavor Ban Stand

    Lawmakers to Let Vermont Veto of Flavor Ban Stand

    Credit: Belyay

    The governor vetoed a bill last week that would have banned flavored vaping and tobacco products in Vermont, and it appears lawmakers won’t override him.

    Gov. Phil Scott expressed concerns about a loss in state revenues. He also argued it would be hypocritical to enact such a ban while Vermont continues to benefit from the sale of flavored cannabis and alcohol products.

    It takes a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate to override a veto. And while the bill passed both chambers by wide margins, it never met that threshold, according to media reports. This week, Senator Phil Baruth announced on the Senate floor that the chamber would not attempt an override.

    Backers of the legislation, who have pursued the ban for years, say they’ll continue exploring their options.

  • Korolev: Russia Plan to Ban Vapes a ‘Radical Measure’

    Korolev: Russia Plan to Ban Vapes a ‘Radical Measure’

    A vape shop in Vladikavkaz, Russia in 2019. (Credit: irinabal18)

    A proposed ban on vapes in Russia is a “radical measure,” according to Maxim Korolev, editor-in-chief of the industry news agency Russian Tabak, reports HCH. 

    In an interview with NSN, Korolev commented on the recent bill that would completely ban the retail sale of nicotine and nicotine-free vapes in the Russian Federation “for the purpose of saving people.”

    “The ban is too radical a measure because it will deprive a significant number of Russians of the opportunity to receive nicotine without carcinogens, said Korolev, estimating this size of the impacted group at between 30 million and 40 million people.

    At the same time, he noted, a significant share of tobacco sales in Russia avoids taxes and regulations. “What our smokers who want to quit are now getting as an alternative is also not very clear,” said Korolev. “Perhaps this is not the worst measure if it later makes it possible to introduce legal products for alternative purposes, that is, with nicotine, but with carcinogens, without combustible tobacco.”

    Korolev insisted that Russians should be given the opportunity to choose alternative options to tobacco products.

    “[F]or decades, we hooked the entire male population on the nicotine needle through military service: almost everyone there started smoking. Now, we need to give people the opportunity to use alternative options before simply banning everything indiscriminately.”

    In 2023, the smoking rate in Russia was 18.7 percent, down from 24.2 percent in 2019. In 2022, there was a noted increase in smokers using e-cigarettes and vapes.

  • Alabama Senate Pass Public Buildings Vaping Ban

    Alabama Senate Pass Public Buildings Vaping Ban

    Credit: Allard1

    The Alabama Senate voted to pass legislation that would ban vaping inside public buildings.

    The Alabama Clean Indoor Air Act already bans the smoking of cigarettes, pipes, and other methods of smoking tobacco from public buildings including schools, police stations, city halls, and courthouses, according to media reports. This legislation would expand that prohibition to include vapes and other electronic tobacco delivery systems.

    “Under the existing law, the Alabama Clean Indoor Air Act prohibits the smoking of tobacco products in most public places and in public meetings,” said Sen. Gerald Allen. “This piece of legislation would prohibit the smoking of electronic nicotine delivery systems in the same manner as the smoking of tobacco products is prohibited.”

    SB37 now goes to the Alabama House of Representatives for their consideration.

  • Kyrgyzstan Proposes Ban on Vaping Products

    Kyrgyzstan Proposes Ban on Vaping Products

    But cigarettes will remain readily available. (Photo: Taco Tuinstra)

    Shairbek Tashiev, Member of Parliament in Kyrgyzstan, has initiated a bill that would amend the Code of Offenses and the Criminal Code to protect citizens’ health from tobacco and nicotine consumption and exposure to smoke, reports the AKIPress News Agency.

    The amendments were submitted in February.

    Tashiev proposed banning import of electronic cigarettes with a tank containing special liquid. Violators would face a fine of KGS150,000 ($1,683) to KGS200,000 or imprisonment for up to two years.

    Vaping will be banned in undesignated places, with violators facing fines of KGS40,000 for individuals and KGS60,000 for legal entities.

    Individuals caught selling e-cigarettes with tanks will face fines of KGS50,000, and legal entities will face fines of KGS65,000.

  • Illinois Senate Passes 2 Vape Laws, Moves to House

    Illinois Senate Passes 2 Vape Laws, Moves to House

    Credit: High Light Vape

    The Illinois state Senate passed two bills on Tuesday aimed at curbing teen vaping.

    The first bill bans companies from selling vaping devices that resemble everyday household items. The second bill prohibits people from shipping vaping products in Illinois, except to licensed retailers and distributors. Illinois state senators Julie Morrison and Meg Loughran Cappel sponsored the bills.

    It’s already illegal to sell e-cigarettes to people under 21 in Illinois. Teens can get around the ban, however, by having them shipped to their home, according to media reports.

    Morrison said her bill comes as school officials report kids using vaping devices that look like schools supplies such as highlighters.

    “Teachers, they’ve complained that they have found these kind of products in their schools, their students have them. They’re designed to look like a school supply. And I think it’s not even limited to school supplies, stuffed animals, SpongeBob,” Morrison said.

    Both bills now head to the state House of Representatives.

  • Ohio Preemption Law Forces 14 Cities to File Lawsuit

    Ohio Preemption Law Forces 14 Cities to File Lawsuit

    Credit: Zach Frank

    The Ohio General Assembly passed a preemption law earlier this year that prevents cities and counties from enacting tobacco regulations that are stricter than the state laws.

    The law was enacted after lawmakers overrode Governor Mike DeWine’s veto, which came after a year-long battle over the banning of flavored tobacco sales.

    This week, 14 cities filed a legal challenge to the law that, if successful, would allow those cities to introduce their own rules even if they are more stringent than state rules.

    The cities of Columbus, Bexley, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dublin, Gahanna, Grandview Heights, Heath, Hilliard, Oxford, Reynoldsburg, Upper Arlington, Whitehall, and Worthington filed the case in Franklin County. The plaintiffs claim the law violates the state’s constitution, specifically a line that states that cities “have the ‘authority to exercise all powers of local self-government and to adopt and enforce within [their] limits such local police, sanitary and other similar regulations, as are not in conflict with general laws.’”

    According to Patrick Lagreid of Halfwheel, the suit also argues that the ban would adversely affect citizens. The Ohio legislature passed the preemption law during a special session, which DeWine later vetoed.

    The ban was again passed by the state’s General Assembly as part of its budget proposal, then vetoed again by DeWine before the General Assembly voted to override the veto in January. The case seeks a temporary injunction to keep the ban from going into effect on April 24.

    Republican state lawmakers have tried multiple times to prohibit local governments from restricting the sale of tobacco, only to be thwarted by DeWine’s vetoes.

    In 2022, he struck down such a proposal. Last July, he struck the provision from the rest of the state budget, saying that local bans were “essential” to curb nicotine use, especially among children, without a statewide ban in place.

  • ATR: Scott Veto a ‘Huge Relief’ for Vermont Vapers

    ATR: Scott Veto a ‘Huge Relief’ for Vermont Vapers

    Credit: Carsten Reisinger

    Vermont Governor Phil Scott returned Senate Bill 18, a sweeping ban on flavored tobacco, vapor, and all other nicotine-containing products, without a signature after it passed the Senate 18-11 and the House 83-53. Both fell short of enough votes to override the veto.

    Tim Andrews, director of Consumer Issues for Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), said Scott’s veto is a “huge relief” to Vermonters who rely on vaping products to avoid returning to combustible cigarette use. He also said, “Rejecting the tax hike will make it easier for those who currently smoke to achieve cessation using vapor products, as flavors are proven to be a crucial factor in an adult smoker’s decision to quit.”

    In his veto letter, Scott described S.18 as “hypocritical and out of step with other initiatives that have been passed”. Alongside the double standard of enacting a tobacco flavor ban post the legalization of cannabis (flavored varieties included) in 2020 and state advertisement of flavored alcohol products, the bill also compromises the state’s revenue stability, the ATR wrote in a press release.

    This bill would have resulted in an estimated revenue loss of between $7.1 to $14.2 million in fiscal year 2027. Nearby Massachusetts has already experienced similar consequences as a result of its own flavor ban, seeing a $17 million loss in tobacco tax revenue to New Hampshire, which gained $18 million in revenues as residents drove across the border to purchase flavored products, according to ATR.

  • Thailand Cracking Down on Vaping in Schools

    Thailand Cracking Down on Vaping in Schools

    Credit: a3701027

    Thailand’s Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC) is set to implement strict measures, including personal belongings checks, in an attempt to curb the use of vapes in schools after a “surge” in usage among students.

    The Deputy Secretary-General of OBEC, Thee Pawangkanan, has expressed concerns over the increasing usage of e-cigarettes among Thai students aged 13-15. According to media reports, there have also been cases of vape usage among first-graders, as young as six and seven years old, making them the youngest smokers.

    Obec is considering conducting bag searches to screen for illegal and inappropriate objects, including e-cigarettes, before students enter classrooms. Pawangkanan said the measures will be imposed at schools starting on May 15, the first day of the new term.

  • Oversight Committee to Question FDA Commissioner

    Oversight Committee to Question FDA Commissioner

    Robert Califf (Photo: FDA)

    The U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee will question U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf as part of an investigation into the agency’s handling of tobacco and nicotine products regulation, among other issues, according to a press release.

    Last year, the committee announced an investigation into the FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP). “We have deep concerns that the CTP’s decisions have been influenced by political concerns rather than scientific evidence,” wrote Oversight Committee chairman James Comer in a letter for Califf. “Comments from FDA staff to RUF [the Reagan-Udall Foundation] … reflect such concerns.”

    Other members of Congress have also questioned the FDA’s commitment to fair regulation, with a bipartisan group of senators asking Califf in 2023 to explain the FDA’s premarket tobacco product application process.

    The hearing is scheduled for April 11 at 1 p.m. EDT. It will be live streamed on the committee website and on YouTube.

  • Alabama Governor Expected to Sign Possession Ban

    Alabama Governor Expected to Sign Possession Ban

    Credit: David Mark

    In Alabama, a bill to place the same restrictions on vaping products as are on tobacco products has unanimously passed both the house and senate and is headed to Governor Kay Ivey for her signature.

    The bill bans the possession of vaping products and devices by people under 21.

    “This is a tremendous first-step to help end underage vaping,” a spokesperson said, according to media. “We want parents, educators, coaches and others to have the authority to take away vapes from young people.

    “It allows law enforcement to seize vapes without having to conduct expensive tests to determine whether the device contains an illegal substance. Simple possession constitutes a violation.”