While federal and state investigators are continuing to investigate the cause of over one-thousand reported cases of vaping-related injuries and several deaths, Oregon’s Governor Kate Brown has ordered that all flavored vaping products that contain nicotine or THC be banned for six months.
When exactly the ban is scheduled to start remains unclear, The Oregonian reports. What is known is that Governor Brown told agencies across the state to “immediately” enact emergency rules banning the products outlined in her order.
Critics of the ban have cited the high potential for a negative impact of the vaping industry, the negative impact on adult smokers who are using e-cigarettes to quit smoking, and the fact that nicotine vaping products have been lumped in with THC vaping products when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has said that most of the victims reported using THC oils. Notably, some of the victims reported only using nicotine, not THC, according to the CDC.
Thus far, at least 18 people have died after succumbing to what health officials believe to have been vaping-related lung illnesses. Two of the deceased were residents of the state of Oregon.
Those in favor of the ban have cited the rise in youth vaping and the potential health risks associated with vaping as reasons to support the ban.
Meanwhile, conventional cigarettes, which kill hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. each year remain unscathed in the latest rebuke of nicotine vaping products. Overseas, the United Kingdom continues to support the use of e-cigarettes for smokers who are trying to quit. Their support of electronic cigarettes comes on the heels of Public Health England’s e-cig evidence review, which found vaping to be likely 95% less harmful than smoking.
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