A run of US states and cities moved against flavored e-liquid, some with temporary emergency orders and some with outright bans. This report walks through where the restrictions landed, what each one covered, and the events that led up to them.
The states and cities that acted
Every measure below was presented as a way to keep vaping products away from teenagers. They differed a lot in scope: a few covered every vaping product, others only flavors, and several were set to expire after a fixed period while more research was carried out. The post counts seven states, with California represented by two of its cities.
Michigan
Michigan moved first, restricting flavored e-liquid sales in shops and online. Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s order also barred retailers from marketing with the words “healthy”, “safe” and “clean”, on the grounds that such terms would mislead people when so little was known about long-term effects. The ban did not last. Under a month after it took effect, a judge sided with retailers who argued the governor had exceeded her authority, and flavored e-liquid went back on sale in the state.
San Francisco and Los Angeles, California
San Francisco went further than Michigan and banned all e-liquid, tobacco and menthol flavors included, along with e-cigarette hardware of any kind. Juul, which is based in the city, was funding a ballot measure to overturn that ban. Los Angeles was considering a ban of its own that would stay in place until the FDA ruled on e-cigarettes.
New York
New York has one of the country’s largest vaping populations, and the reaction there was strong. Governor Andrew Cuomo tried to remove flavored e-liquid from sale through an emergency executive order aimed at underage use, and he also sought to lift the minimum purchase age for tobacco products from 18 to 21. Opponents got the flavor ban blocked temporarily, together with the age change. New York City was still contesting the ban, while Long Island passed a rule allowing only tobacco and menthol flavors to be sold there.
Washington
Washington’s ban was written to run four months, with the option to extend it. It covered flavored nicotine e-liquid and flavored liquid containing THC as well. The governor said the measure served public health.
Oregon
Oregon followed its neighbor with a longer, 6 month ban on flavored liquids containing nicotine or cannabis. Products made with 100% pure marijuana terpenes were exempt. The illness cases under investigation at the time had been tied to products with THC additives.
Montana
Montana’s 4 month ban took in CBD, THC and flavored nicotine e-liquid together. Rather than leaving room for an extension, the state fixed the end point at 120 days after October 22nd. Officials said the time would be used to research what was actually behind the illnesses.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts surprised many residents, since both medical and recreational marijuana are legal there. The state halted sales of all vape products for four months, nicotine and cannabis alike, saying it needed time to study why illness cases had risen so sharply and how vape products ought to be regulated.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island took the Massachusetts approach and adjusted it. Its ban also ran four months, but it applied to flavored e-cigarette products only, and it covered manufacturing in addition to sale and distribution.
How it got to this point
The trouble began with THC, the compound in cannabis that produces a high. Recreational cannabis was a large, unregulated market, and some producers were mixing liquid THC with dangerous additives and selling the result to be vaped. Because those products were inhaled through the same kind of hardware, ordinary nicotine e-liquid ended up associated with them.
As those THC products spread, people started getting sick. Officials campaigned against vaping as a whole, and news coverage treated the category as one. Vapers pushed back, arguing that the illicit THC liquids were the cause and pointing out that THC came up in nearly every report. Even so, with little known about the long-term effects of vaping, public alarm grew.
Teen use and JUUL
Vaping had started as a trend among young adults, and candy, fruit and dessert flavors were a big part of the appeal. Vape shops, in store and online, were required to check ID and enforce the age limit, as with cigarettes.
JUUL changed the picture. The device was slim and discreet, and it was sold at gas stations and convenience stores, where ID checks were looser than at vape shops. It also came in sweet flavors such as Mango and Creme Brulee. JUUL withdrew its fruit and dessert pods in response, but unlicensed makers filled the gap with bootleg prefilled cartridges, and some of those contained THC.
Illness reports reached roughly 1200 cases, and twenty-six patients died. At that point blame fell on vapers and e-liquid makers generally.
What happened next
State officials generally held that tobacco and menthol e-liquid should be the only kinds left on shelves. Vapers objected that those were exactly the flavors they did not want.
Physical shops in affected states had to clear their flavored stock quickly, and online sellers did the same ahead of the deadlines, urging customers to stock up.
In the months after the bans, reports increasingly pointed to THC illegally added to vape liquid, not standard nicotine e-liquid, as the source of the illnesses. Where flavored e-liquid would go from there was still an open question when this was written. Nicotine is addictive, and these products are for adults of legal age only.