Vape bans are the hottest trend sweeping the nation. Legislators everywhere are getting hip to this hot new craze, and governors, congressmen, and even the president himself are trying to outdo each other with intense crackdowns on vapes. From flavor bans to outright bans, American politicians are eager to prove they are taking the “vaping epidemic” seriously without addressing the real dangers to American citizens, namely illicit THC cartridges.
Recently, Michigan became the first U.S. state to ban vaping within its borders. Governor Whitmer passed an executive order in order to bypass traditional legislative checks and balances. San Francisco has also banned vaping and gone further to include prohibiting sales and shipments into its city limits. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced an “emergency” ban on vape products just last week.
In nearly each instance of vape prohibition, officials have been forced to use unilateral executive authority to pass their agenda. While much of the public has been swept into the hysteria surrounding vaping, these bans would still likely face intense scrutiny if they were to pass through traditional legislative channels.
While other states have passed authoritarian rule through a generous interpretation of delegated powers to the executive branch of government, California Governor Gavin Newsom recently acknowledged his own limitations according to California laws and regulations. TL;DR Newsom can’t enact martial law against vapers, even though he is desperate not to be outdone by his progressive contemporaries in Michigan and New York.
Instead, Governor Newsom announced on Monday that his executive order will consist of a $20 million public awareness campaign. This campaign, Newsom said, will help spread the word regarding the dangers of vaping both nicotine and cannabis. Through these ads, Newsom hopes to curb the sales of illegal products and cut losses from “vaping-related” illnesses.
“As a father of four, this has been an issue that has been brought to the forefront of my consciousness”, said Gavin Newsom, justifying his desire to ban vaping altogether. While Newsom’s anti-vaping campaign sounds harmless enough, the governor continued in his remarks, indicating that he would like to ban vaping and flavored nicotine if given the chance.
Despite failed efforts to ban vape flavors earlier in 2019, Newsom still insists that he would like lawmakers to bring him a proposal for a vape ban similar to New York or San Francisco. Naturally, California senators and assemblymen are lining up to help the governor in his valiant efforts to slay the vape dragon.
“We fully support the Governor’s belief that these products should be banned, and we look forward to working with him to pass legislation that will bring an end to this public health crisis and protect the youth in our state,” said Senator Jerry Hill, in a joint statement with Assemblymen Jim Wood and Kevin McCarthy.
While Newsom’s aforementioned $20 million awareness campaign includes illicit cannabis in its scope, Newsom is primarily focused on the e-cigarette industry. The California governor has given orders to his department of public health and the department of tax and fee administration to investigate potential means of cracking down on the vape industry. While this is ostensibly just part of the awareness campaign, it seems likely that the governor is acting in a supra-gubernatorial fashion, seeking ways to attack the vape industry should legal avenues fail him.
For instance, his tax officials have been asked to look into changing the way in which e-cigarettes are taxed. Historically, e-cigarettes have faced lower taxes than combustible cigarettes. California officials are considering whether or not slapping a massive tax on e-cigarettes would be an effective means of discouraging use. While there’s no reason to expect that this will deny access to teenagers (who are somehow already affording $30 packs of Juul pods), it will definitely help line the state’s coffers.
Another idea being floated by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration is the implementation of a “track and trace” program. Apparently, health officials are already using such a program to follow legal cannabis. While the stated intent is to make sure that e-cigarettes or marijuana is not falling into the wrong hands, the description of the program has raised more than a few eyebrows. According to the Tax and Fee Administration themselves, the program currently tracks any given vendor’s inventory and compares that against the taxes the state receives. Allegedly, this is to prevent vendors from profiting through illegal and untaxed sales, i.e. to minors. In practice, however, it’s extremely clear that this is nothing more than government profiteering. As we all know, the government doesn’t care about the health of minors. They aren’t “tracking and tracing” liquor stores, for instance, so how do they know that liquor stores aren’t offloading crates of vodka to 15-year-olds? They don’t know, and they don’t care. With vaping and cannabis, however, the government is fully aware that they can bully these yearling industries and make certain every last cent finds its way into the California treasury.
Californian vapers, like those across the country, are in something of a holding pattern. The mood on the ground is grim, but hopeful, with discussions both online and in person regarding activism, worst-case scenario contingency plans, and DIY support networks springing up everywhere. As such, the vape industry is far from defeated. While these bans are threatening the livelihoods of thousands of Americans and the lives of thousands more, there’s still plenty of time to turn public perception around. Just this week, a handful of major publications finally included the truth about the recent vaping deaths in their headlines. A couple of pieces were even published expressing dissent with the sweeping anti-vape sentiment of the U.S. government. The tides may yet turn, and if they don’t, there’s a booming community of vapers forming in the wake of this crackdown. If the Big Nationwide Ban happens, find other survivors, get to high ground, and learn to carry on.
