Michigan Lawmakers Push for Ban on All Flavored Tobacco and Vape Products

If you're a smoker trying to quit with flavored tobacco or vape products, things might get a little tougher soon. Michigan lawmakers are pushing to ban all flavored options, which could make kicking the habit a bit harder.

According to MLive, lawmakers are proposing a ban on all flavored tobacco products in the state, including flavored nicotine vapes, cigars, menthol cigarettes, flavored dipping tobacco, and even smaller flavored cigars, like Swisher ‎Sweets.

This ban isn’t aimed at adults who use these products, even though they would ultimately be affected. It’s actually intended to combat the surge in nicotine use among kids. The wide variety of fruity, sweet flavors makes it all too easy to lure kids into trying and enjoying them.

A hearing was held on Tuesday, December 11, to discuss the topic. However, despite the testimony presented, the bills did not receive a vote in the House Committee on Families, Children, and Seniors for some reason.

Norm Hess, executive director of the Michigan Association for Local Public Health:

Tobacco use continues to be a glaring public health problem and a leading cause of preventable death and disability in Michigan. I do want to concur with two assertions that have been made already, that flavored tobacco products play a key role in youth initiation and that certain populations are disproportionately affected by the use of flavored tobacco.

While I do agree that something needs to be done to combat the issue of kids getting their hands on flavored tobacco and vape products, I’m not sure if a full ban is the answer. It feels like there might be other ways to tackle the problem without impacting adults who rely on these products.