Legislators make laws, not governors
The American Vaping Association slams Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer plans to announce an emergency declaration and promises court action
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by Dave Cross
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The American Vaping Association (AVA) is a non-profit organisation that advocates for fair and sensible regulation of vapor products, with the goal of maximizing the number of adult smokers who use vaping to quit smoking. The AVA was founded by Gregory Conley, a consumer and industry advocate with a long track record of advocating for vapour products dating back to 2010.
The AVA is dedicated to educating the public and government officials about public health benefits offered by vapour products, it does not speak for any particular business. It has a lot on its hands in attempting to educate Governor Whitmer with her plan to ban flavoured products and only allow a 30-day sell-through period for retailers to sell off current products held in stock.
Gregory Conley, President of the AVA, said: “This shameless attempt at backdoor prohibition will close down several hundred Michigan small businesses and could send tens of thousands of ex-smokers back to deadly combustible cigarettes. These businesses and their customers will not go down without a fight. We look forward to supporting the lawsuits that now appear necessary to protect the right of adults to access these harm reduction products.”
“In this country, laws are made by legislators, not governors desperate for press attention. Anyone who fears the prospect of an out of control government should be appalled by this attempt by the executive branch to unilaterally ban an adult product. Even more absurd, this ban attempt is coming just months after the Michigan Legislature wisely prohibited sales of vaping products to minors.”
“Governor Whitmer’s ban will create a massive, multi-million dollar black market for these products, which are the same conditions that led to the recent spate of lung illnesses that are now clearly linked to illegal THC vaping products. The CDC is now specifically warning against vaping homemade vaping products, yet this is the exact kind of behaviour that a state-instituted flavour ban will lead to.”
“Last year”, the AVA says, “the New York State Department of Health attempted to enact a flavour ban for vaping products without the approval of the New York state legislators. It only took a few days for the state to recognise they lacked the legal authority to do so and pulled the proposed rule.”
“The same should happen in Michigan”, according to Conley, “but with Governor Whitmer personally delivering today’s message of prohibition, it looks like it will be up to the courts and state legislators to take corrective action.”
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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