NEW JERSEY
CONSIDERS
NUCLEAR
OPTION
Garden State Senate President wants
total ban of ALL vaping devices while
the Governor sets up special task
force to issue recommendations
Words: Patrick Griffi n
B
y the time you read this, laws may already be being
drafted to make it illegal to buy any form of e-cigarettes
in New Jersey.
State Governor Phil Murphy has signed an Executive Order to
create a special task force to report on the risks associated with
vaping which he describes as an “all-too-common practice.”
The Electronic Smoking Device Task Force has been asked to
make a series of recommendations about vaping in the wake of
the lung disease illnesses and deaths in the US.
He has given three weeks for the task force to publish its
recommendations but in the meantime he wants vapers to stop
using e-cigarettes anyway.
In what vaping advocates see as more than a little alarmist, he
said: “As of this moment there is no safe vape. The only safe
alternative to smoking is no smoking, period.”
Referring to the vaping task force he said: “Over the course of
the next three weeks [it will] identify and recommend actions we
can take both administratively and legally to protect New Jersey
residents, especially kids, from the hazards of vaping.”
In New Jersey, there are three cases of vaping-related illnesses
130 VM25
that have been confirmed by the state’s Department of Health
while 19 others are under investigation.
And in yet another blow to the vape industry, legal moves are
already underway to ban flavoured e-liquids in New Jersey.
Senate President Steve Sweeney supports the flavour bans but
wants to go further.
He said: “The health and safety and even the lives of young people
are at risk. The flavoured products are targeted at teenagers and
young adults with the intent of luring them into addiction.
“We should not allow another generation to get addicted to a
product that lowers life expectancy and seriously damages their
heart and lungs. Here is a product that we know is seriously
harming the health of users, especially our youth.”
He has described the flavour restrictions as “the first steps
towards a total ban on the sale of all vaping products, including
e-cigarettes,” adding: “I will propose a plan to phase out the sale of
all vaping products over the next few years.”
So what are New Jersey vapers to do if this happens? They could take
the ferry across The Hudson to New York, and if the proposed flavour
ban goes ahead, they could at least buy tobacco-flavoured e-liquid.