Today Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed Senate Bills 106 and 155, which clarify that it is illegal to sell e-cigarettes and other non-traditional nicotine products to minors.
In her signing message to the Legislature, Governor Whitmer criticized the legislation for not going far enough to protect Michigan’s kids from nicotine addiction, calling it “a mistake” to separate e-cigarettes from the Youth Tobacco Act’s definition of “tobacco products.”
In 2018, 21% of American high school students and 5% of middle school students—children as young as 12—reported having used e-cigarettes or other vape products in the last 30 days. And these rates are climbing fast: fueled by the availability of flavors akin to Fruit Loops, Fanta, and Nilla wafers, e-cigarette sales to high school students increased 78% from 2017 to 2018.
“This is an important step in protecting public health and keeping tobacco products out of the hands of our kids, but we have to keep working to ensure that minors don’t have access to any tobacco products, including harmful e-cigarettes,” said Whitmer. “That includes raising the legal age for purchasing these products to 21, curtailing internet sales of e-cigarettes, and banning the marketing of all tobacco products to children. I’m ready to keep working with the legislature to make sure we’re doing everything we can to protect our kids and our public health.”
In response to what she called a “public health crisis,” Governor Whitmer also announced that she is asking the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to marshal the most recent science to provide recommendations on how Michigan should regulate e-cigarettes and similar products going forward. She’s also asked the Michigan Department of Treasury to consider these recommendations, and determine whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s reasons for deeming e-cigarettes to be tobacco products should also apply to Michigan law on the licensing and taxation of tobacco products.
Senate Bills 106 and 155 passed in the Michigan Senate on April 23, 2019 and passed in the Michigan House on May 15, 2019.
STATEMENT FROM AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION:
The American Heart Association and partner organizations express their disappointment that Governor Whitmer has signed Senate Bill 106 and 155.
The Legislature failed to pass comprehensive legislation to definine e-cigarettes as tobacco products, to protect Michigan’s youth from the predatory practices Big Tobacco utilizes to addict kids to e-cigarettes, or to ensure all Michiganders continue to breathe clean air by including these products in our state’s Smoke-free air law.
While we oppose this legislation in its current form, we do support the governor’s interested in seeking ways to strengthen this policy. It is imperative we find a manner to ensure these dangerous products stay out of the hands of our kids by providing financial disincentives to purchase them, keeping them out of public spaces, and restricting marketing directed specifically towards children. We look forward to working with the Legislature and Gov. Whitmer on this.
Decades of research demonstrate that only through a comprehensive approach to tobacco control can we ensure the greatest positive impact on health outcomes. The American Heart Association and partner organizations hope to see legislation soon that would increase funding for the state’s tobacco prevention and cessation programs, ban flavors that only serve to attract youth, and increase taxes on tobacco products, which have been shown to reduce use. Together, we will work to ensure elected officials support these efforts to improve the health of our communities.
