Opponents turned out in force at the State House Wednesday to speak out against legislation that would ban the sale of vaping devices and supplies in Maine until the devices are approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Among the opponents who appeared before the Legislature’s Health And Human Services Committee were business owners who sell vaping devices and supplies and who say the ban would put them out of business.
“LD 2052 has been sugar-coated by a few individuals to appear as a simple regulation of the vaping industry, when it is in fact an outright ban on all vaping products,” says Chris Jackson, who owns a vaping and tobacco store in Portland.
Several recovering smokers also testified, saying that vaping helped them stop smoking tobacco, which they say is far more dangerous than vaping.
Supporters of the bill say the use of vaping products poses serious health risks to Mainers, particularly teens. Democratic state Senator Rebecca Millett of South Portland, who sponsored the measure, says that the use of e-cigarettes and other vaping products poses serious health risks to Mainers, particularly teens.
“This bill seeks to protect Mainers where the FDA has failed,” Millett says. “It prohibits selling, furnishing, giving away electronic smoking devices and nicotine liquid and other new tobacco products.”
