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Our friends at the Consumer Choice Center (CCC) just released the 2020 US Vaping Index.
The index categorizes and ranks each state based on its consumer-friendly regulatory approach to vaping products. The CCC team behind the index — David Clement and Yaël Ossowski — assigned grades of A, C, or F to states depending on each state’s legislative actions on the availability of flavored vaping products, taxation, and online sales restrictions or prohibitions.
The full graph is below:
“The worst states – New York, California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island – are far behind all the other states because of flavor bans, exorbitant taxation on vaping products, and restrictions on online sales,” said Clement. “Our research indicates these states go above and beyond to deter adult smokers from switching to vaping, which could vastly improve and prolong their lives.”
New York joined the states of New Jersey, California, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island as the worst in the nation with a grade of “F”, while states like Virginia, Colorado, Texas, and Maryland each received “A” scores for more consumer-friendly vaping regulations.
“What lawmakers should note is that a number of states are providing a positive framework of regulation for vaping that boosts consumer choice while contributing to public health by encouraging smoking cessation,” said Ossowski. “Excessive flavor bans, taxes, and prohibitions on online commerce grow the black market sector and harm consumers who want less harmful alternatives to smoking.
“If states want to innovate in 2020 and provide adult smokers with an alternative that is less harmful, they should look to reform their state laws to better accommodate this new technology that is helping millions,” said Ossowski.
As part of its campaign to urge policymakers to take a rational approach to vaping, the CCC also launched a resource page Why Flavors Matter and a policy paper of the same name.
