E-Cigarette Ban in Michigan

Eberly/Redburn/WRAP
Thurs. Dec. 12, 2019...9AM News — Kill after 5PM

WEMU SCRIPT

LEAD-IN (RPR): TONIGHT...INSIDERS ARE TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT THE RECENT

STATE-WIDE BAN AGAINST NICOTINE AND VAPING PRODUCTS...AND DISCOVERING THE
EFFECTS ON LOCAL BUSINESSES AND CAMPUS LIFE.

RPR: IT WAS A BAN THAT RAISED THE EYEBROWS OF NICOTINE USERS

EVERYWHERE...WHEN MICHIGAN BECAME THE FIRST STATE IN THE NATION TO BAN
FLAVORED E-CIGARETTES AND VAPING PRODUCTS JUST WEEKS AGO.

RPR: BACK IN SEPTEMBER...GOVERNOR GRETCHEN WHITMER ORDERED THE STATE

HEALTH DEPARTMENT TO PLACE A SIX-MONTH BAN ON THE SELLING OF E-
CIGARETTES...CLAIMING THAT IT WAS A DANGER TO YOUTH. JUST A MONTH LATER...A
JUDGE ON MICHIGAN’S COURT OF CLAIMS REVERSED THE BAN...BLOCKING THE STATE
FROM ENFORCING THE SIX-MONTH BAN.

RPR: ALL THESE CHANGING REGULATIONS INSPIRED CURIOSITY ABOUT HOW THESE
CHANGING VAPE LAWS IMPACT CAMPUS LIFE AND THE SURROUNDING BUSINESSES IN
THE YPSILANTI AREA.

RPR: MANY COLLEGE STUDENTS WERE SHOCKED AT WHITMER’S NEW LAW. AND
WASHTENAW COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENT CHRIS GLUECK WAS NO DIFFERENT.

CHRIS (soundbite): I was pretty upset...because, you know, I don't like smoking
cigarettes and I’ve been vaping for a while now. When they did that law, I thought it
was really unfair, not just to me, but to people who’d built their whole careers around
it.

RPR: ACCORDING TO TRUTH INITIATIVE....ONE JUUL POD CONTAINS AN

EQUIVALENCE OF 20 CIGARETTES...BUT THE REAL QUESTION IS...ARE JUUL
PODS EQUALLY AS HARMFUL AS CIGARETTES? YOUNG ADULTS LIKE CHRIS
BELIEVE VAPING OFFERS A HEALTHIER ALTERNATIVE TO CIGARETTES.
CHRIS (soundbite): I think, I mean, there’s no tobacco in it. As of now, there’s no
proof that it causes bad illnesses to your lungs and your heart. But cigarettes? We
already know what it does.

RPR: MICHIGAN CHIEF MEDICAL EXECUTIVE DR. JONEIGH KHALDUN SAID THE
BANNING PASSED EARLIER THIS YEAR ADDRESSED THE INCREASE IN YOUTH USAGE...A
PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS. CHRIS HIMSELF ADMITS HIS HABITS BEGAN FROM A TREND.

CHRIS (soundbite): I started vaping when I was 16. And I, on average, go through
2 pods a day. To be honest, for me, I didn't really get buzzed after a year of doing it. it’s
more of a habit to entertain me. Juul got big ‘cause it was a trend in high school.

RPR: FROM 2017 TO 2018...USE OF E-CIGARETTES JUMPED 48 PERCENT AMONG

MIDDLE SCHOOL AND 78 PERCENT AMONG HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.

RPR: ACCORDING TO KHALDUN...IT IS LIKELY THAT FLAVORED MARIJUANA

PRODUCTS WERE TARGETED TOWARD CHILDREN AS WELL.

RPR: WE SPOKE TO ONE EMPLOYEE AT A LOCAL DISPENSARY THAT SELLS VAPE

CARTRIDGES.

RPR: THE YOUNG WORKER...WHO ASKED TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS...HAD

BEEN AN EMPLOYEE AT THE DISPENSARY FOR OVER A YEAR. AFTER SHELVES
WERE SHIFTED DUE TO THE BAN...SHE SAYS SHE NOTICED THAT MANY
CUSTOMERS HAD MUCH HIGHER PRECAUTIONS COMING IN FOR FLAVORED
VAPE CARTRIDGES.

SALESWOMAN (soundbite): In vape cartridge sales specifically, I would say the

people that are buying them are asking a lot more questions than they used to. So,
when people are coming in, especially when it was fresh on the news, everyone who
was coming in was asking questions of how they’re being pulled off our shelves, and
things like that. I would say we stay pretty steady with the amount of customers, but
the actual vape cartridge sales, I would say people are more cautious these days or at
least are questioning a lot more.

RPR: AND CAUTIOUS FOR GOOD REASON…THE LIST OF VAPE-RELATED

DEATHS HAS GROWN LONGER SINCE THE TWO FATALITIES FIRST REPORTED
THIS PAST SUMMER.
RPR: THE FIRST DEATH WAS REPORTED IN ILLINOIS IN AUGUST...THE SECOND
WAS A MIDDLE-AGED MAN WHO FELL SERIOUSLY ILL AFTER VAPING THC
WAX. IT WAS THE FIRST CASUALTY LINKED TO A STORE-BOUGHT PRODUCT.

RPR: THE DISPENSARY BUSINESS WAS REQUIRED TO PUT UP SIGNS FOR

THEIR VAPE CARTRIDGES...EXPLAINING THAT THE VAPE BAN TARGETED
ILLEGAL THC CARTRIDGES...NOT DISPENSARY-SOLD ONES.

RPR: STILL...MANY LAWMAKERS ARGUE THAT SUCH LEGISLATION COULD IN

FACT BE PLANTING SEEDS FOR THE GROWTH OF A MASSIVE BLACK MARKET.

RPR: FOR FREQUENT VAPE USERS LIKE CHRIS...THE LAW WOULD BRING AN
OBSTACLE FOR OBTAINING CARTRIDGES TO SATISFY HIS NICOTINE CRAVINGS.

CHRIS (soundbite): I would have to be driving to Ohio now to get my vape supplies.
It forces a lot of people to switch to cigarettes. It’ll open up black markets to vaping
because people are still gonna get it and there’s always gonna be a way, the only
difference is that it’ll no longer be a legal way.

RPR: WHITMER’S LAW TARGETED A YOUTH DEMOGRAPHIC...BUT LAWMAKERS

ARGUE THAT AGE SHOULD NOT BE A DEFINING FACTOR...REGARDLESS OF THE
EPIDEMIC...PEOPLE WITH NICOTINE ADDICTIONS WILL BE CONSTANTLY
SEARCHING FOR WAYS TO SATISFY THEIR CRAVINGS.

RPR: SURPRISINGLY...THE DISPENSARY EMPLOYEE DESCRIBED MOST

CUSTOMERS AS BEING SENIOR CITIZENS.

SALESWOMAN (soundbite): Mostly, we get seniors...We also do veteran discount.

I would say we get more women than we do men in our dispensary. Most of our
customers do get out senior discount of being 65 or older.

RPR: IT SEEMS THAT THIS MATTER HAS AN AFFECT ON BOTH YOUNG PEOPLE
AND GROWN ADULTS. SO IT’S NO WONDER THAT THERE IS SUCH A HIGH
DEMAND FOR THE PRODUCTS...AND A DEFINITE UPROAR IN PUBLIC OUTCRY.
SALESWOMAN (soundbite): I hear a lot of people saying in general between
flower or vape cartridges that anything in your lungs that isn’t oxygen, they don’t
want in their lungs.

RPR: BUT FOR PEOPLE ADDICTED TO NICOTINE...SIMPLE VAPE CARTRIDGES

SERVE AS A HEALTHIER ALTERNATIVE TO AVOID CIGARETTE RELAPSE...AND
SOMETIMES...THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS QUITTING ANYTHING...IS TAKING
SMALL STEPS TO DECREASE HABITUAL BEHAVIOR.

RPR: CLEARLY THE NEW BAN HAS...AND WILL CONTINUE TO EFFECT PEOPLE
FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE...FROM YOUNG TEENS TO SENIOR CITIZENS...THE
STATE’S EVER-CHANGING LAWS WILL NEVER REMAIN STATIC...WE CAN ONLY
HOPE THAT OUR LEGISLATORS WILL KEEP THE PUBLIC’S BEST INTEREST IN
MIND WHILE PRIORITIZING OUR SAFETY.

RPR: FOR WEMU...I’M CAMERYN EBERLY...AND I’M CAMERON REDBURN.