New Jersey lawmakers have given up, for now, an effort to stop sales of menthol cigarettes as part of their push for a ban on flavored vaping products that opponents fear goes beyond the federal prohibition announced earlier this month.

Bills that broadly ban flavored vaping products and liquids, revise taxes and increase penalties for violations were passed by the Assembly Appropriations and Senate Budget committees on Thursday.

The bills originally extended the ban to menthol cigarettes. But Assemblyman Herb Conaway, D-Burlington, a doctor who leads the Burlington County Health Department, said lawmakers wanted to know more about how banning menthols would affect the state’s cigarette tax revenue before taking action.

The non-partisan Office of Legislative Services estimated that cigarette and sales tax revenues could decrease 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.

“Because we don’t know what that figure is, we don’t know what the impact is,” said Conaway, the bill sponsor. “We’re going to keep after this menthol thing in part because most of the kids who get hooked to nicotine today have started, according to surveys, with a menthol-containing product. For me, that’s reason to get rid of it.”

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The Senate's top Democrat said a menthol cigarette ban would be addressed in the next several months.

“We’re going to readdress it in the budget next year, because it is a budget issue," said Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester.

The slate of bills were lawmakers' response to a public health crisis and follow recommendations of a task force put together by Gov. Phil Murphy. Changes made on Thursday will double penalties for retailers who sell flavored products, beginning at $500 for a first offense, and give the Division of Treasury authority to suspend and revoke a vaping business’s license on the third or fourth violation, respectively.

Vaping, particularly of THC, has been connected to the deaths of 55 people across the country and one woman in New Jersey, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Vapes, also called e-cigarettes or vape pens, heat liquid to produce an aerosol that smokers inhale. The liquid can contain nicotine or tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the component of marijuana that produces a high

Lawmakers are working against a Tuesday deadline, when all bills that have not been acted on will need to be reintroduced. The vaping-related bills are scheduled for votes in the full Senate and Assembly on Monday, the last day of voting.

It may not be a slam dunk. Several lawmakers who voted for the bills on Thursday expressed doubt they would vote the same way on Monday.

“I do not agree that banning flavors in vape stores is something that we should be doing at this time, based on what we know and what we’ve heard," said Assemblyman John Burzichelli, D-Gloucester. Burizchelli said that because he leads the Appropriations Committee, it was his job to pass the bill forward, so he voted yes.

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Vaping advocates and store owners spoke out against the ban, saying it would cut off a tool used to help people stop smoking cigarettes and would create a black market. Dozens of store owners urged senators to vote against the bills, and some said tearfully that they would go out of business if the flavor ban is implemented.

"This got started as a health debate," said Danish Iqbal, president of the New Jersey Vapor Rights Coalition, which represents about 250 vape shops in the state. "We’re not banning menthol cigarettes, we’re banning flavored vape in a state that’s hurtling toward the legalization of recreationally getting high. A police officer might well pull you over in two years and say that better be weed in your vape, not strawberries."

E-cigarettes were initially sold as a way to help people curb nicotine addiction and cigarette smoking, but the industry, especially pioneering manufacturer Juul, has been scrutinized for marketing its products to children through the use of flavors like watermelon, vanilla and chocolate chip cookie.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it would crack down on sales of fruit- and mint-flavored vaping cartridges and pods. The feds did not limit sales of vaping liquids that come in tanks or bottles, saying its approach was meant to curb products used by children while leaving vaping as an option for adults who want to quit smoking traditional cigarettes. But opponents said those tanks and bottles are included in the ban advanced by New Jersey lawmakers on Thursday.

Meanwhile supporters of the bill called for lawmakers to reconsider the ban on menthol cigarettes as a more pressing public health issue.

"We wholeheartedly support banning flavors for e-cigarettes," Corinne Orlando, of the American Heart Association, told the Senate Budget committee. "The reason why we’re opposed to the bill is we don’t feel it goes far enough. We feel that any attempt to address flavors needs to include all flavors. That’s menthol cigarettes, cigars — any tobacco product that has a flavor."

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 Call: 732-427-0114 Twitter: @sbarchenger