Massachusetts adopts tough ban on flavored vaping, tobacco products

Massachusetts on Wednesday adopted the country’s toughest ban on the sale of flavored tobacco and vaping products, including menthol cigarettes, in response to a rise in youth vaping and an outbreak of vaping-related serious lung injuries. Governor Charlie Baker, a Republican, signed into law legislation passed by the state’s Democrat-controlled legislature earlier this month that also places a 75% excise tax on e-cigarettes. Several other states have recently adopted emergency bans on the sale of flavored vaping products amid a nationwide outbreak of lung injuries among e-cigarette users and concerns about the growing popularity of the products among high school and middle school students.