In a bid to protect teenagers and children, Gov. Mike DeWine wants Ohio legislators to ban the sale of flavored vaping devices and products that he says are marketed to entice youths into nicotine addiction.

With the state law set to change Oct. 17 to raise the age for the legal sale of tobacco and vaping products from 18 to 21, DeWine said other steps must be taken to protect youths.

"Nothing is more important than the safety of children," the Republican governor said. "We can't give up an entire generation of children and have them addicted."

The governor wants to ban the sale of vaping fluids and products with fruit, candy, mint and menthol flavors, which he contended have been directly aimed at young people to the detriment of their health.

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His legal staff researched the governor's authority to impose a ban and concluded that legislation would be required.

DeWine pointed to the increasing cases of respiratory illnesses linked to vaping and a 135% increase in vaping by high school students (to 27.5%) since 2017.

State Rep. Tom Patton, R-Strongsville, recently introduced House Bill 346, which would prohibit the sale of flavored vaping devices and products and create a committee to study the health risks of vaping.

Ohio Health Director Amy Acton said the state has received 22 reports of severe respiratory illnesses — including in a 15-year-old — related to vaping and is investigating another 22 cases.

Ninety percent of the confirmed cases involved the illicit vaping of THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana, Acton said.

Across the country, 16 deaths have been reported from vaping-related respiratory illnesses.

DeWine's announcement came just hours after roughly 200 vape-store owners, employees and people who vape held a rally on Statehouse grounds to expressed concern and outrage about efforts such as Ohio's to place restrictive bans on the sale of vape products.

“We are not here to addict a new generation,” said James Jarvis, president of the Ohio Vapor Trade Association, the organization that planned the rally. “We are an adult product made by adults to cure an adult issue.”

Jarvis said a ban on the sale of flavored products would devastate the 650 stores in Ohio represented by the industry group.

Flavored products account for 85% to 90% of sales among adults, who don't want tobacco-flavored vape as they quit smoking cigarettes and eventually try to wean themselves off vape products, he said.

"If the flavors go, those stores will be out of business extremely fast," said Jarvis, who owns five vaping stores in the Columbus area.

The state needs to focus efforts on curtailing online sales to youths, who can purchase vaping products anonymously, he said.

Speakers at Tuesday’s rally addressed the lung illnesses.

Demonstrators held signs that read “Tastes great less killing,” “I vape, I vote” and “Mango is not a crime.”

"The teen epidemic, it is a false narrative," University of Louisville professor Dr. Brad Rodu said at the rally. He teaches in the medical school and holds an endowed position researching tobacco harm reduction.

He said 3 million teenagers used vape products in 2018.

Of those teens, 600,000 were 18 and older, Rodu said, while the remaining 2.4 million had already used or were using other tobacco products.

“Kids will be kids,” he said. “They try stuff. ... The false narrative can’t result in the defeat of these products.”

If schools had stricter policies on vaping, as schools do with alcohol, it might help reduce teen use, said rally speaker Lindsey Stroud, a policy analyst at the Heartland Institute, a Chicago-based conservative and libertarian research group.

“Just because I’m not young, I still want to vape flavors,” said Michelle Tinder, a 34-year-old resident of Massillon in Stark County. “I don’t like tobacco flavors. It didn’t help me quit.”

She held an “I quit with flavor” sign at the rally.

Vape-shop owner Justin Parrott said he quit smoking with the help of the cinnamon-roll flavor and is concerned that Ohioans will go back to smoking cigarettes or turn to the black market if vaping products or vape flavors are banned.

“If flavors are banned, than vape shops are closing down,” he said.

He owns two vape shops, Ohm Slaw Vapors, in southwestern Ohio.

DeWine also announced other steps the state is taking in a bid to regulate vaping, including a $3.3 million campaign to discourage vaping, especially among youth.

The reporting of vaping illnesses by local health officials is now mandatory rather than voluntary. Schools and colleges are being asked to ban vaping on campus.

Producers of medical marijuana are being warned that rules could be changed to forbid vaping products. And the Ohio Board of Pharmacy sent an alert to medical marijuana patients about dangers associated with vaping THC products.

The state budget, which DeWine signed on July 22, includes a wholesale tax of 10 cents per milliliter on vaping liquids and products that took effect Tuesday. A 60-milliliter bottle of vaping liquid, a popular product, typically costs around $20, so the new tax will increase its cost to consumers by $6, Jarvis said.

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