Flavored vaping products, which critics say attract teens and get them hooked on nicotine, will soon be banned in New Jersey.
Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday signed a bill into law prohibiting the sale and distribution of flavored e-cigarettes in the Garden State, just months after he called for state lawmakers to send him a measure barring the products as a national health crisis associated with vaping unfolded.
The law (S3265) is the nation’s first permanent flavor ban, according to the governor’s office. Several others issued emergency bans last year as the vaping crisis began.
“As governor, I am first and foremost charged with protecting the health and safety of our people,” Murphy, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Research shows that flavored electronic smoking devices and products, such as mint, candy, fruit, and chocolate, are extremely appealing, especially to children."
Since then, more than 2,600 people have been hospitalized and 60 have died across the country due to the mysterious lung illness, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
The flavor ban will take effect in 90 days, or on April 20. The small vape shop owners say that leaves them with a short time to clear their shelves and pivot their business models.
Many have said the flavor ban will take away their main source of revenue and force them into bankruptcy, while the law will do nothing to address the black market. Some former cigarette smokers say switching to vaping helped them to quit and has improved their health.
But others hope the ban will keep kids from picking up the habit after smoking significantly declined among young people.
A former version of the bill included a ban on menthol cigarettes, but state Senate President Stephen Sweeney said lawmakers put that on hold, planning to bring it up again during budget discussions later this year.
“Flavored products are designed to attract young people, which is one of the reasons why most traditional cigarette flavors were banned a decade ago,” Assemblyman Herb Conaway, D-Burlington, said in a statement.
“Getting flavored vaping products off the market will protect our youth. If we don’t, we will have another generation of young people addicted to nicotine when we were so close to reducing widespread dependency on this chemical,” he said.
The governor also signed (S1647) which prohibits the use of coupons, rebates and price for vaping and tobacco products, but will let another (S4223) that would increase penalties for New Jersey shops caught selling vaping products to those under 21 expire.
In a statement, Murphy said he did not sign the bill because it would require an overhaul of the currently limited licensing system for vapor businesses and increase taxes on their products. That “complicated” tax scheme could favor certain businesses over others.
“It is a lost opportunity to take constructive action to counter the vaping crisis and to protect against the dangerous health effects of e-cigarettes and other vaping products,” Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex, who sponsored the bill, said of the veto. “The bill contained common-sense measures to keep these products out of the hands of young people by cracking down on illicit, underage sales by bad actors who exploit their vulnerability to the allure of e-cigarettes and other vaping products.”
Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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