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Columbus, OH – [Concluded] Stop a Flavor Ban!
- October 13, 2022
current status
Bill
Introduced
Passed
Committee
Passed
Full COuncil
Signed by
mayor
12.12.22 – Final reading and vote. Passed. Flavor ban (with exemptions for hookah bars and retail) takes effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
12.01.22 – Public Hearing, 5:00PM, Columbus City Hall.
11.30.22 – Small business conversation will be held on Wednesday, November 30th, 5 pm: Small Business Community Engagement (Westgate Community Recreation Center, 455 South Westgate Ave, Columbus, 43204) and a second public hearing will be held on December 1.
11.09.22 – Public Hearing, 4:30 PM, City Council Chambers
10.26.22 – A public hearing on the flavor ban ordinance is expected on November 9, 2022. (City Council Chambers, 4:30 PM)
10.21.22 – Location for town hall announced: Reeb Center, 280 Reeb Ave., Columbus.
10.13.22 – Although a bill has not been introduced, a town hall is scheduled for October 25. A public hearing on a bill is expected on or around November 15.
On December 12, 2022, the Columbus City Countil voted on and passed an ordinance that bans the sale of flavored tobacco and nicotine products. Exceptions were made for hookah bars and retailers.
The ordinance takes effect on January 1, 2024.
BREAKING NEWS: Columbus City Council votes to pass a ban on flavored tobacco in the city. This impacts the retail of most flavored tobacco and menthol products. Council voted on this unanimously. A full report tonight at 10 and 11 on @fox28columbus and @wsyx6
— Kate Siefert (@KateWSYX6) December 12, 2022
- Urge committee members to oppose the flavor ban ordinance which would restrict your ability to use low-risk alternatives to smoking and send people back to smoking or to buy their vapor products from informal sources.
- Briefly, share your story about switching to vaping and what role that flavors play in helping you live smoke free.
- Note any health changes you’ve experienced.
- Briefly, discuss what losing access to a local supply of vapor products will mean for you (Will you shop out-of-state, in neighboring cities, or online? Will you make your own e-liquid at home or purchase products on an underground market?).
- Be brief, Be kind, and Say Thank You 🙂
For those new to vaping or just generally unfamiliar with federal regulations, the premarket tobacco application (or PMTA) deadline was September 9, 2020. This application is required to keep or bring new tobacco/nicotine products on the market. It is estimated that 95% to 98% of vapor manufacturers will not be able to afford this process and will not be capable of filing on time.
But 98% is not 100% (as the antis are fond of saying).
The FDA has already approved some new tobacco products that are being sold in flavors other than tobacco (specifically mint, menthol, and wintergreen). In the weeks prior to the September deadline, the FDA accepted for review several applications for bottled e-liquid in flavors ranging from tobacco to cereal to fruit. Despite the rhetoric from certain members of congress and the incessant pro-drug war drum beat of tobacco prohibitionists, FDA is still capable of authorizing flavored smoke-free nicotine products for market. Moreover, FDA may even allow manufactures of these products to market them as safer than cigarettes, if they apply for and receive a modified risk order.
A flavor ban in Columbus would undermine any decision by FDA to allow low-risk flavored tobacco products on the market after having met the “appropriate for the protection of public health” standard. Even without involving the FDA, flavor bans are being enacted without thorough consideration of the negative consequences. Sales data from Massachusetts and New York suggest that many people who were vaping prior to the flavor bans simply returned to smoking.
While a flavor ban may amount to an inconvenience for teens experimenting with substance use, it is actively harming parents and other adults who are trying to quit smoking.
Small Business Conversaion - 11/02/22
Tobacco Proposal