On Tuesday, Massachusetts officially became the first US state to temporarily ban the sale of all electronic cigarettes, going further than Michigan and New York, which had suspended only flavored products.
The ban takes effect immediately and runs until January 25, four months, said Governor Charlie Baker, who declared the state of health emergency.
While Massachusetts is the first state to ban all marketing, the California city of San Francisco had already adopted a similar measure in early July.
The governor, quoted in a statement, wanted the suspension so that “we could work with our medical experts to determine what makes people sick and how to better regulate these products to protect the health of our citizens.”
e-cigarettes linked to mystery illness
For several weeks, the United States has been experiencing a wave of lung diseases contracted by users of e-cigarettes. According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), some 530 confirmed or probable cases have been reported, as well as 7 deaths.
In Massachusetts, three confirmed cases and two probable ones have been reported, but about fifty other patients are being analyzed.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating suspect samples, but has not yet determined which substances would cause these acute lung diseases.
So far, the states of Michigan and New York have been content to ban flavored electronic cigarettes because they were worried about recent cases of lung disease, but also about the propensity of these products to make young people addicted to the disease. nicotine.
Popular among young people
According to a study published in 2017, 20% of Massachusetts students were vaping and 41% had already tried e-cigarettes.
However, the sale of these products was prohibited to those under 18 until the end of 2018, when the age was raised to 21 years.
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Council passed a text suspending the marketing of flavored electronic cigarettes.
The bans came just days after Donald Trump announced on Sept. 11 that a similar measure on flavored electronic cigarettes would be taken in the coming months at the federal level.
