Flavor ban one step closer

In the US, New Jersey has moved one step closer to banning the sale and distribution of most flavored electronic smoking products, according to a story by Brent Johnson for NJ Advance Media.

The state Assembly’s health committee voted 7-2, with two abstentions, on Monday to approve the bill, which would ban the sale of vaping devices and products in flavors other than clove, menthol and tobacco. Currently there are hundreds of flavors available, such as honey, chocolate and cherry.

New Jersey already bans the sale or distribution of flavored cigarettes, except those with clove, menthol or tobacco flavors.

If passed by both houses of the state legislature and then signed by the governor, the new bill would extend that law to ban electronic smoking devices, cartridges, and liquid refills with flavors other than the three allowed.

Sponsors of the bill say its goal is to prevent vaping products from being targeted at young people, and possibly luring them into smoking tobacco products.

But opponents of the proposed ban say electronic cigarettes are less risky than are tobacco cigarettes, and can help people quit smoking. Plus, they say, banning the products would cause many vape shops to close.

Kevin Roberts, a former spokesman for Governor Chris Christie who now represents Logic Technology, the nation’s third-largest supplier of electronic cigarettes, said Monday that the bill went against “public health goals and would undoubtedly push countless individuals back toward conventional cigarettes and their known harms”.