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In the face of a wave of teenage vaping and rising health problems across the country, including six deaths across the country, New Jersey lawmakers are talking about becoming the first state to ban the sale of vaping products.
The state Senate Speaker, Stephen Sweeney, called for the passing of a law providing for the phasing out of electronic smoking devices, including cartridges and nicotine containers. , as well as all other steam-based products. Governor Phil Murphy announced the creation of a task force to study the dangers of inhaling vapers and return with regulatory and legislative recommendations within three weeks.
But can the state really act to impose such a ban?
According to legal experts, it can.
"State and local governments have this authority," said Mark D. Meaney at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law Center for Public Health in St. Paul.
He pointed out that e-cigarettes are regulated as tobacco products and that, while the federal government retains jurisdiction over issues such as labeling, marketing and disclosure of ingredients, state governments and Local governments have the right to impose restrictions on sales.
"There is a legal authority to ban electronic cigarettes," he said.
Under the 2009 Tobacco Control Act, the US Food and Drug Administration has been authorized to regulate the manufacture, distribution and marketing of tobacco products, said Dean of Rutgers Law School, Dean of health law. But she added that the law also preserved the power of national and local laws regarding the sale of these products.
"There is definitely room here to enact a ban," Ho said.
In New Jersey, what would be deemed acceptable by the courts would depend on the scope of any proposed prohibition, but restrictions on the sale of cigarettes, such as their prohibition of sale within 500 feet of a school, were maintained .
"No doubt it will be pleaded," Ho said.
The Vapor Technology Association, a professional group in the sector, has not responded directly to New Jersey's proposals to ban the sale of vaping products, but has expressed opposition to the decision of the administration. Trump ban the sale of the most flavored electronic cigarettes, calling it "overtaking the government".
The president acknowledged Wednesday that there was a problem with vaping and said, "We can not allow people to get sick. And our children can not be so affected. "
The occupational group stated that flavored vaping products are "one of the most effective smoking cessation tools on the market". He also indicated that there is no evidence that industry-standard nicotine-based vapor products are attributable to recent cases of lung disease.
"Prohibiting flavors would be a travesty of public health," the group said in a statement. "More than two million Americans have died from smoking-related illnesses in the past five years. If a federal ban on flavors is passed, more than 10 million adults will be forced to choose between smoking again or finding what they want and what they need on the black market. "
According to the Vapor Rights Coalition of New Jersey, there are more than 250 vape shops in New Jersey.
The increasing use of youth in the fight against vaping has been encouraged, as well as the recent revelations of illness and death attributable to the product. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 450 vaping-related diseases have been reported in 33 states. Six people died.
The CDC has not yet identified any specific cause for the outbreak, whether it is black market products or legal vaping.
In New Jersey, the state's health department has confirmed three cases and is investigating 19 more cases of serious pneumonia in people who have been vaccinated since early August, according to the state's website. None of the deaths occurred in New Jersey.
Sweeney, promising new legislation, said that vaping poses real health problems.
"There is an urgent need to preserve the health and safety – and even life – of youth at risk," said the Senate Speaker.
NJ Advance Media Editor Susan K. Livio contributed to this report.
Ted Sherman can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @ TedSherman.reporter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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