This story was updated recently: https://www.wcvb.com/article/judge-allows-gov-bakers-vaping-products-ban-to-continue/29536538
By Kristopher Madden | Observer Contributor
A ruling on Monday, October 21 has upheld the statewide vaping ban. Brown and many other vape shop owners across Massachusetts sued Governor Baker in Federal Court to lift the ban sooner.
Many shop owners initially chose to stay open in the face of what is thought to be an unlawful declaration by Governor Baker. Kevin Brown, owner of Madvapes in Worcester, said he planned to stay open “until the jackboot thugs shut him down.” He added, “We know in the vaping world that it’s illegal THC cartridges that are causing this whole kerfuffle.”
Mad Vapes, along with all other vape stores in Massachusetts, has since closed until the ban is lifted on January 25, 2020.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker recently declared a state of emergency, banning vaping. This ban effectively prohibits the purchase or sale of any and all vaping related products, including those that contain tetrahydrocannibinol (THC) and nicotine. There is a $1000 fine, to be paid by the vendor, for each vaping product sold. This prohibits the sale of not only “ejuice” (vape juice that contains nicotine and not THC), but the sale of all THC cartridges and cartomizers, as well as hardware and components used to vape. Online vendors are also forbidden from shipping to Massachusetts addresses.
The ban is in response to the 805 reported vape related injuries and 13 deaths nationwide.
“We are in the midst of a complex investigation that spans nearly all states [and] involves serious, life-threatening disease in young people who report use of a wide variety of substances and products,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, Centers for Disease Control’s principal deputy director. The Massachusetts Health Commissioner Monica Bharel, has reported 29 cases of vaping related illness in Massachusetts alone since June. It has been speculated that the ban will simply turn nicotine users to other methods of consumption, such as traditional “burn” cigarettes or an increased use of black market vaping products.
The illegal THC cartridges in question are not the vape juice sold in stores. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a study citing that over 75% of the patients affected reported usage of a THC vaporizer cartridge while only 16% reported using a self-contained nicotine delivery system, or traditional e-cigarette. The most common brand reported by over 60% of patients was “Dank Vapes”.
The CDC has warned against the purchase of any THC or CBD cartridges bought off the street. While many of the patients have reported using traditional e-juice, the reported deaths and injuries are users of both THC and nicotine vaporizers, the related injuries and deaths are being blamed on the usage of Vitamin E as a cutting agent in black market THC cartridges not sold in stores.
A majority of these THC cartridges, including the Dank Vapes brand, are reportedly being imported from California and are also not made locally. There is no word of a ban or oversight on traditional cigarettes, chewing tobacco or traditional marijuana “flower” sold in dispensaries, nor any ban on CBD flowers sold in Massachusetts stores.
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