Indiana Bill Would Ban Flavored Tobacco, Vaping Sales

Rep. Carolyn Jackson, D-Hammond, has once again proposed a bill that would ban the sale of flavored tobacco and nicotine products in Indiana.

Jackson recently introduced H.B. 1133, which would make it a Class C misdemeanor for anyone to sell flavored tobacco or nicotine products in the state of Indiana. There does not appear to be any exemptions for larger cigars or other products like hookah tobacco.

This is at least the third consecutive session that Jackson has proposed such legislation. Neither of the two previous bills had a second reading or made it out of a committee.

While flavor bans have been proposed in a variety of states in early 2023, California and Massachusetts are the only states with bans on the sale of flavored tobacco products, though both bans have exemptions for some flavored cigar sales.

In Massachusetts, the exemption allows for specialty cigar lounges to continue to sell flavored cigars, while California’s allows for flavored cigars that have a wholesale price of $12 to continue to be sold.

Companies have taken different approaches in response to the bans, but their impacts are being felt. For example, Drew Estate announced that it would no longer sell three lines—Ambrosia, Isla del Sol and Tabak Especial—to California retailers. That said, the company is still selling its popular ACID line. Drew Estate told retailers it believes that the rest of its portfolio would not be banned in California “as they do not have a distinguishable taste or aroma that could be deemed a ‘characterizing flavor.'”

Meanwhile, some cigarette companies have responded to the California law by replacing menthol cigarettes with new cigarettes that are said to contain a synthetic cooling agent that could produce a similar effect as menthol.

Last year, the FDA announced that it is starting the process of trying to ban the sales of flavored cigars and menthol cigarettes. It’s unclear how long that process might take or whether it will survive court challenges.