Michigan Vape Shop Owners
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  • Join The Fight
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  • Education and Resources
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We've got another fight to keep flavors legal in michigan!

Take a short video to save vaping flavors in Michigan!
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Hearing Set For New Vaping Rules To Ban Flavors

A hearing on new administrative rules regulating the sale and promotion of flavored nicotine vapor products has been rescheduled for late October.
The hearing on MOAHR 2019-107 Track, previously set for September 23 but later canceled, is now slated for 9 a.m., Tuesday, October 20, and will be virtual. The deadline to submit public comment is 5 p.m. October 23 which can be submitted by through traditional mail, email or during the meeting.

The draft rules would prohibit the sale or distribution of flavored nicotine vapor products – including menthol flavors but excluding tobacco flavors – to anyone in the state and the use of imagery representing a flavor to sell the product.

The proposed rules are clear that they do not prohibit a person from merely possessing flavored vapor products, nor would they prevent a Michigan-based retailer, wholesaler, manufacturer or other distributor from transporting flavored vapor products within the state or outside of it. However, possession with intent to sell would be considered a violation.
"By prohibiting the retail sale of flavored products, less product is available on the market, and the products that are available are substantially less appealing to youth," the Department of Health and Human Services wrote in request for rules form late last year. "This is anticipated to decrease youth use of vapor products. Reducing exposure to advertising related to vapor products can help to reduce youth initiation and continued use of vapor products. By restricting the advertising of these products, Michigan will curb youth exposure to vapor product advertisements specifically designed to pull them into nicotine addiction at an early age."
Further, the proposed rules would also disallow sellers and manufacturers from advertising products using words like "clean," "safe," "harmless" and "healthy" regarding the vapor products and devices, labeling them as misleading or fraudulent terms.
Rules on false statements would not apply to product advertising already and exclusively regulated by the federal Food and Drug Administration, which also passed its own new set of vapor product rules earlier this year.
Any advertisement of a flavored vapor product cannot be placed with 25 feet of a point of sale location nor can they be placed within 25 feet from candy, food items or soft drinks in places like convenience stores, gas stations or smoke shops. Overall, such advertisements cannot be readily seen standing outside of the building at a distance of 25 feet.
The penalty for violations of any of the proposed provisions would be guilty of a misdemeanor with a fine of $100 for a first offense, $200 for a second offense and then a fine of no more than $200 or imprisonment for no more than six months, or both, for a third offense.
The federal agency prioritized enforcement of flavored, cartridge-based and noncombustible vapor tobacco products, much like Michigan wants to, except the federal rules allow for the sale of menthol flavors along with the possibly less attractive tobacco flavor. A section explaining the decision to include mint as one of its allowable flavors said that public comment extolled mint and menthol flavors as helpful with smoking cessation.
The federal rules also aim to hold manufacturers accountable if they fail to take adequate steps to prevent youth marketing or access, similar to Michigan's proposed rules.
Michigan's proposed regulations, unlike the January 2020 federal rules, do not detail other ways to hold manufacturers or sellers accountable and the various steps they can take to maintain compliance. For comparison, the final federal rules go into great detail about those steps.
The hearing on said rules comes close to a year after they were promulgated last fall. While that was happening, Governor Gretchen Whitmer also acted to push through regulations on flavored vapor products using the emergency rules process because it was a swifter way to tackle the ban than the typically laborious and lengthy administrative rules process – which requires hearings and public comment before the rules can be transmitted to an appropriate legislative committee for approval.

MVSO Mission Statement
 
Michigan Vape Shop Owners is a trade organization;
​built on the belief that sensible industry regulation is essential to our existence and the health of our communities.

​At it’s core are the small business owners who embody the entrepreneurial spirit,
that this industry and Country were built upon.
 
We believe in the fundamental right of our members to shape the legislative process;
thereby creating just laws that support a sustainable and prosperous tomorrow.

Regulation is inevitable and should we fail to act: big tobacco and other groups will act for their own benefit.

We believe it is a self evident truth, that all members voices are equal. Your thoughts, contributions, and accomplishments: will be recognized, celebrated and respected. We succeed together or fail alone.

As individuals our voices will fall upon the deaf ears of bureaucracy.
Collectively though, our many voices become great ​by the synergy of a common purpose.
A purpose that conveys mutual benefit upon our customers, employees,
families, and the health of our communities.
​
Join the fight and help preserve this industry for those that built it. 
Tomorrow is to late.
​
“A single man of one, only pebbles can be moved, but many men together,
​stands no mountain that can't move.” Robert M. Hensel
​

The Members of MVSO, our Lobbyists, and our Attorneys
believe in public transparency
​
We are committed to act for the benefit of our members
​and the communities they serve

The MVSO is working with Lawmakers to support sensible regulation; that will assure peoples access to the widest selection of quality vaping products.  Some of the regulations we support include:
  • ​Mandatory use of age verification software (ID scanners)
  • Possible restrictions of sales to adult only establishments, or establishments that have adult only areas
  • Significant fines for retailers selling to minors
  • Significant fines for individuals purchasing vaping products for underage users
  • No taxation of vapor products.  The purpose of levying heavy taxes on cigarettes was to reduce usage of a product causing an incomprehensible level of harm.  We do not believe that taxing e-cigarettes in the same way, is a good public health policy.  Public Health policy decisions should be based on science, as exemplified by Public Health England's concluding that e-cigarettes are 95% less harmful than smoking. 
​
In the words of Dr. David Abrams a Professor at NYU, e-cigarettes represent;  
​
"the single biggest public health opportunity we've ever had in 120 years to get rid of cigarettes and replace them with a much safer form of nicotine for everyone."



 MVSO is a 501(c) non profit trade group, representing manufacturers and brick and mortar vape shops throughout Michigan.
​We've come together to work for sensible legislation, to keep vaping safe and legal in Michigan and beyond.