Update On Flavor Bans: Colorado and Connecticut

We’re all very aware of local state bans on flavors and the mounting interest from the FDA to continue increasing the difficulty for companies to market their vape products.

However:

So far, 2022 has not been a terrible year for the vape industry. Yes, there was a ban on TFN that passed earlier this year, but this month’s news regarding flavor bans in Colorado and Connecticut seems to be a breath of fresh air for the legal industry.

So, are flavored e-cigs banned?

In some states, yes. But so far this year, only Hawaii has passed a bill that prohibits vape flavors. Which means that we’re almost through half the year and prohibitions are still not escalating as quickly as expected.

Connecticut: How Demonstrating the Inefficacy of the Flavor Ban Helped Put the Ban to Rest

Flavor prohibition has been a running subject in the vaping industry for a long time now. The FDA, local state governments, and anti-vaping associations have put their eyes on ending flavored vape product commercialization because many of them claim that flavored products may increase the possibility of youths consuming nicotine.

Nevertheless:

There aren’t studies that prove this conclusively. That is why vaping advocates have had such a successful run in Connecticut, where they have helped fight off the vaping flavor ban four consecutive times since 2020, an especially difficult task in Connecticut where prohibitions for vape flavors were included in state budgets for both 2020 and 2021, not to mention a separate bill introduced in 2021.

Part of their success, especially this year, has been attributed to studies that show how smoking among youths increased in places where the flavor ban is alive. It is evidence like this that has helped steer legislators in the direction of rational, evidence-based decisions, instead of an unwarranted flavored cigar ban.

Nevertheless:

Connecticut is still not prepared to commit to amending the bill to allow sales of flavored vape products in adult-only stores, which still seems a little irrational regardless of the rather favorable outcome this month.

Colorado: A Failed Ban Attempt

The Senate Appropriations Committee in Colorado rejected the flavor ban bill last week Tuesday, May 10, 2022.

This is a great victory for vape advocates and a harsh defeat for Tobacco-Free Kids, especially knowing that the anti-vaping entity had 25 lobbyists and $180,000 working for them in order to push the ban through.

Of course, spending was not done on a ‘one-way street’, but the outcome was still rather unexpected and a very encouraging piece of news for the industry. While this news is not likely to be the end of efforts to pass the bill from anti-vaping entities, it is one that puts the minds of vaping manufacturers at ease, even if it is only for the remainder of the year.