She said the epidemic could be attributed “in large part to the appeal of flavored vapor and alternative nicotine products to youth as vape shop near me well as the advertising and promotional activities by companies that glamorize use of nicotine products nationwide,” she concluded.
But experts who study tobacco policy fear the scattershot approach of the clampdown could have damaging, unintended consequences, including driving adults who vape back to cigarette smoking, which remains the nation’s leading preventable cause of death.
Earlier this year, the FDA authorized the sale of a first-of-a-kind device, IQOS, that heats tobacco without burning it. The approach is designed to mimic the experience of smoking while producing fewer toxic chemicals than paper-and-tobacco cigarettes.
Vaping products today are not actively regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, other than the government’s ban on selling them to minors — a law that is poorly enforced. City Manager Scott Morelli said more than 30 tobacco retailers in South Portland will be notified 30 days before the council holds a first reading and public hearing on the flavored tobacco ban.
But menthol and tobacco-flavoured e-cigarettes will be allowed to remain on the market. Krishnan-Sarin said not a lot is known about the long-term effects of vaping or using e-cigarettes; what’s worse is that science can’t keep up with the product’s rapid explosion in popularity.
Andrew Cuomo banned most flavored e-cigarettes, but it’s going to be tough to stop savvy teens from vaping. Last year, Maine became the fifth state to ban the sale of tobacco, including vaping products, to anyone under age 21, in line with the state’s drinking age.
Convenience store owners have been at the forefront of opposition to the bill, saying the ban on menthol cigarettes will put many stores out of business. About 31 percent of 169 Massachusetts residents surveyed online by the Cannabis Community Care and Research Network said the ban made them purchase illicit marijuana vape products.