New Jersey moving ahead on vaping ban, bills expected to be signed by Phil Murphy

Flavored vaping products could soon be outlawed in New Jersey after lawmakers voted Monday to prohibit their sales and cap the amount of nicotine in vaping liquids.

The hotly contested bills expand on federal rules prohibiting the sale of flavored vapes, increase licensing fees and fines for selling flavored products, and limit the amount of nicotine that can be in vaping liquid to 2%. Gov. Phil Murphy is likely to sign the bills into law, as they enact many recommendations from a vaping task force the governor convened last year. The ban is effective 90 days after the governor signs the bills.

The bills were among dozens on lawmakers' agenda Monday, the last day of their work session in Trenton. Any bills that are not passed by Tuesday, when the Legislature is sworn in for another two-year term, must be reintroduced and reconsidered by lawmakers.

“If we can choke off access to these vaping products in kids, we can also prevent the smoking that more than half of them will do as well,” said Assemblyman Herb Conaway, D-Burlington, the bills' sponsor and leader of the Burlington County Health Department.

While health advocates said the bills were a crucial step toward curbing addiction, particularly among youth, opponents said it would put hundreds of vape shops out of business and harm people who try to quit smoking by relying on e-cigarettes.

The bills are the state's response to a health crisis that has hospitalized 2,600 people and killed 57 more across the country, including one woman in New Jersey. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has connected many of the illnesses and deaths to vape smokers that burned THC, the part of marijuana that creates a high.

Vapes, also known as e-cigarettes and vape pens, heat liquid to create an aerosol that smokers inhale. The liquids are often flavored and can include or be combined with nicotine or THC.

Earlier this month, the federal government announced a partial ban on flavored vaping pods, like those used in Juul, a vape manufacturer that has been accused of targeting children with its flavored products.

“Youth tobacco use was declining for decades before e-cigarettes, and especially flavored vaping products, entered the market," Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex, a bill sponsor, said in a statement. "Today, one in five high school students use vaping products. That is both astronomical and unacceptable."

New Jersey joins several other states that have already taken or are considering additional measures trying to keep kids away from e-cigarettes.

In November, Massachusetts passed a strict law limiting sales of flavored vaping products and menthol cigarettes to licensed bars where they can be smoked on site. The law prevents stores from selling flavored vaping products and menthol cigarettes.

Lawmakers in California are also weighing a more extensive prohibition on all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes

New Jersey lawmakers originally sought to outlaw sales of menthol cigarettes, too. But that effort was derailed over lawmakers' concerns about how it would affect tax revenue from cigarette sales, said Conaway, the bill's sponsor.

The non-partisan Office of Legislative Services estimated that cigarette and sales tax revenues could have decreased by as much as $231 million, but even that estimate acknowledges that the real impact is uncertain because some menthol smokers might instead buy other cigarettes.

Stacey Barchenger is a reporter in the New Jersey Statehouse. For unlimited access to her work covering New Jersey’s Legislature and political power structure, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: sbarchenger@gannettnj.com Twitter: @sbarchenger