LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is moving to make Michigan the first state to ban flavored e-cigarettes.
The Democrat announced Wednesday that she ordered the state health department to issue emergency rules. They will prohibit the sale and misleading marketing of flavored nicotine vaping products.
Whitmer says her No. 1 priority is keeping kids safe, and she wants to stop companies that are using candy flavors to "hook children on nicotine."
The federal government and nearly every state bar the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. Whitmer says Michigan will be the first to ban flavored vaping products, including for adults.
The American Vaping Association says the "shameless attempt at backdoor prohibition" could send thousands of ex-smokers back to deadly cigarettes. It says it will support lawsuits to challenge the ban.