Vermont Senate Passes Flavored Tobacco, E-Liquid Ban

Last week, the Vermont Senate passed a bill that would ban the sale of flavored tobacco products and e-liquids in the state.

S. 18 was passed by the Senate and has since moved onto the Vermont House of Representatives. The bill would ban the sale of tobacco products and e-liquids that have a characterizing flavor other than tobacco. Like bills recently introduced in other states, the bill contains a provision that says if a company claims that the product has “a distinguishable taste or aroma other than the taste or aroma of tobacco, ” it will be considered flavored.

If passed, retailers caught selling flavored tobacco products or e-liquids would be subject to a fine of up to $100 for a first offense and up to $500 for subsequent offenses. It would not punish consumers for possessing, purchasing or consuming flavored products.

S. 18 would take effect on Sept. 1, 2023.

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.

Earlier this year, the head of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products said the agency hoped to announce a nationwide ban on flavored cigars and menthol cigarettes in the fall of 2023.