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Flavored tobacco/vape ban bill set for Monday hearing

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Illinois

Lawmakers will be back at work for veto session on Monday. One of the first things they plan to look into are proposals to ban flavored e-cigarettes and tobacco products.

Several Republicans, Democrats and the governor have all voiced support behind the idea.

Owners of vaping stores from around the state came to the capitol to remind lawmakers of the devastating impact a ban would have on their business. Managers said if a flavor e-cig ban passes, they will not be able to sell more than 90 percent of the items in their stores.

While convenience stores would not be hit as hard, because they have other items to sell, leaders in their industry say a ban is not the answer to keep the products away from children.

* Greg Bishop at the Center Square…

In a hearing set for Monday, lawmakers will discuss House Bill 3883, which would ban flavored products for vaping.

Dan Reinke, owner of 3D Vapor, which has shops in the Metro East area, said that will affect adults who use flavored e-cigarettes to kick tobacco.

“What we have that got into the situation that we’re in today is a black market problem and banning flavored vaping products is only going to create a worse black market problem,” Reinke said.

The proposed flavor ban won’t just impact e-cigarettes. Josh Sharp, executive vice president of the Illinois Petroleum Marketers Association and the Illinois Association of Convenience Stores, said it would also ban flavored tobacco products such as menthol. That will affect gas stations in border communities he said.

“All you’re going to do is disperse these consumers,” Sharp said. “They’re still going to get the product. So this bill doesn’t at all solved the problem that it’s intended to, or that it seeks to.”

The original bill excluded menthol, the current amended version removed the exclusion. That is creating quite a bit of controversy. The sponsor, Rep. Deb Conroy, told me today they are currently “working through” that aspect of the legislation. Without a tobacco menthol ban, she said, “we are sending people back to cigarettes” with the favored vaping ban.

* The Illinois Association of Convenience Stores claims that flavored tobacco cigarette products, including menthol, make up 38 percent of all sales. Last fiscal year, the tobacco tax on cigarettes brought in $739 million, so menthol and other flavored products brought in about $282.5 million. Other tobacco product revenues totaled $36.7 million last year, opponents say and 79 percent of those products are flavored, they claim, for a total of $28.9 million. Vaping brought in $13 million last year. 82 percent of that is supposedly flavored, so that’s $10.7 million for a grand total of about $322 million.

Now, all menthol smokers and flavored vapers are not gonna go total cold turkey. Nor will all of them head out of state or to the black market. Many will start smoking regular cigarettes or tobacco flavored vapes. All of that state revenue will not disappear, but a chunk of it will.

About $160 million a year is expected from new taxes on cigarettes and e-cigs to fund the state’s vertical infrastructure program. Using the same formula from above, that works out to about $65 million in revenue from favored products. Again, all that revenue won’t disappear, but some will.

* Whenever a government completely completely bans something addictive or habit-forming or, in the case of cannabis, pleasurable, it risks creating or enlarging an underground market. And those markets are often run by not so nice people. Just sayin…

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Oct 25, 19 @ 10:53 am

Comments

I’d be very curious to see the potential impact on the smokeless tobacco market. The brand in my nickname is the only one I’m aware of that doesn’t rely primarily on flavored varieties.

Comment by copenhagen Friday, Oct 25, 19 @ 11:04 am
Ignorant legislators with the wrong remedy to the outrage du jour…what could go wrong?

Comment by Phenomynous Friday, Oct 25, 19 @ 11:05 am
Such a bad idea to ban flavored tobacco and the flavorings in e-cigs.

Do these legislators not realize that these sudden health problems are almost exclusively, if not completely, the result of black market THC cartridges that have bad stuff in them? And that by making something illegal, they’re just going to create a different black market which could see similar problems of poor quality due to lack of regulation?

It’s hard to watch otherwise decent politicians, including the governor, support such bad measures. Please don’t do this, you might think you’re helping people, but you will be hurting much more than you’re helping.

Comment by Techie Friday, Oct 25, 19 @ 11:13 am
These legislators have lost all common sense. I’m not saying vaping is healthy, but the recent health crisis seems to be largely or entirely centered on black market THC products. So… what response do legislators have?? Go after the non-problem products that have helped countless people get off cigarettes which many, many leading health experts believe are upwards of 95 percent less bad for you. This is absurd.

Comment by Just Observing Friday, Oct 25, 19 @ 11:19 am
The flavorings in e-cigs are especially attractive to youngsters. Not that many adults opt for bubblegum flavor.

An alternative to a ban would be strict enforcement of the minimum sales age. This means regular undercover sting operations, which is what it took to get the drinking age taken seriously.

Comment by anon2 Friday, Oct 25, 19 @ 11:21 am
The bill is well intentioned, but everything about it runs completely contrary to the philosophy behind what the state just did in legalizing recreational cannabis use.

I thought “legalize and regulate” was the way to go, but we’re going back to prohibition on vaping and menthol cigs? Flavored vapes are bad and need to be illegal because they draw teen use, but cannabis infused gummies and chocolates won’t entice teens to get high?

Comment by Roman Friday, Oct 25, 19 @ 11:24 am
With talk of both the vape ban and redoing the formula for a Chicago casino, it appears that there is significant pressure being put on the funding sources for the vertical capital plan. I wonder if JB’s team is actively looking at projections for this.

Comment by DarkDante Friday, Oct 25, 19 @ 11:45 am
==Not that many adults opt for bubblegum flavor==

He’s right. I know many adult vapers, and they tend to prefer cereal and baked goods based flavors, not bubble gum. /snark (but also very true, these flavored vape products appeal as much to adults as kids, in my anecdotal experience).

Comment by DarkDante Friday, Oct 25, 19 @ 11:47 am
Hmm.. let’s pass some legislation to make us feel like we are doing something good. If we can save just one life… blah, blah…

As others have stated, the only common denominator in these vaping illnesses is that they are linked to unregulated black market products. Banning legitimate products will do what exactly?

Comment by TheGoodLieutenant Friday, Oct 25, 19 @ 11:48 am
Anybody else remember “Bidi” cigarettes? These were also pitched at youth, they were based I think on a style of cig popular in India; they were smaller than normal size coffin nails, with fruity flavors. The vape thing reminds me that Illinois stamped those out when it became apparent highschoolers were getting into them.

Comment by smaller but not healthier Friday, Oct 25, 19 @ 11:59 am
This ban on traditional menthol cigarettes proves it’s not about the vaping illnesses. This is about do-gooders trying to ban things they don’t like. And itll cost the state millions in tax revenue. Such a stupid idea

Comment by Kane County Frank Friday, Oct 25, 19 @ 12:20 pm
===He’s right. I know many adult vapers, and they tend to prefer cereal and baked goods based flavors, not bubble gum. /snark (but also very true, these flavored vape products appeal as much to adults as kids, in my anecdotal experience).===

The next logical conclusion would be to ban fruit flavored beer, spirits, and the like, because children like those flavors.

Comment by Bothanspy Friday, Oct 25, 19 @ 12:32 pm
== Many will start smoking regular cigarettes or tobacco flavored vapes.==

Not me, I’ll order online. Illinois nanny state dems will not be getting this slice of my tax dollars. Since the FDA announced on Sept 25 that it will not be banning these products, I’m sure that vape shops located in a less irrational state will be happy to accept my business.

Comment by Lester Holt’s Mustache Friday, Oct 25, 19 @ 12:35 pm
== With talk of both the vape ban and redoing the formula for a Chicago casino, there is significant pressure being put on the funding sources for the vertical capital plan. ==

That should be the core of Mayor Lightfoot’s argument on her casino re-write request.

Comment by BC Friday, Oct 25, 19 @ 1:05 pm
=== The flavorings in e-cigs are especially attractive to youngsters. Not that many adults opt for bubblegum flavor. ===

You have zero idea what you are talking about. Flavored vape juice is wildly popular among adults.

Comment by Just Observing Friday, Oct 25, 19 @ 1:44 pm
Oh come on, just let the people vape.

Comment by Collinsville Kevin Friday, Oct 25, 19 @ 1:50 pm
There are really two competing interests here - each with a legitimate public policy/health concern:

1. Preventing youth access to nicotine products - whether flavored or not.

2. Preserving opportunities for adults to use alternative nicotine products in an effort to reduce adult smoking as well as a little bit of “adults should be able do adult things” policy.

As Rich points out, a nicotine addiction isn’t usually solved through pricing or availability. More times than not it’s by way of an alternative nicotine product to cigarettes.

The debate here seems to be an “either/or”. Either protect the kids or protect the options for adults. What hasn’t been considered is a middle ground approach.

Many Cities including Minneapolis a few years ago as well as the State of Utah within the past few weeks have allowed flavored tobacco products to continue to be sold in age-restricted retail stores where minors can’t enter to be exposed to the products in the first place and where better opportunities for governmental oversight of age-enforcement can occur.

This would not only seriously limit youth access to the products, but would recognize the role these alternative flavored products have for adults that want to quit smoking.

This would allow the adult-only (actually 21+) store to remain open and serve the adult market with products we have deemed are only suitable for adult use. Of course this would need to be coupled with stringent back-end enforcement.

In Minneapolis this didn’t eliminate the C-Stores entirely from the market. Many have built a store within a store that simply has an age restricted area much like many C-stores are now doing with their gaming areas.

Before the entire ship sinks in favor of one policy objective, let’s try to take a moment and find a middle ground to address them both.

Comment by MiddleGround Friday, Oct 25, 19 @ 3:05 pm
I am so glad we have learned how well bans work on desired products.

Comment by Shemp Friday, Oct 25, 19 @ 4:13 pm