California Gov. Gavin Newsom has joined New York and Michigan in issuing an executive order to address the vaping crisis, which federal officials are now calling an emergency. The order calls for the California Department of Public Health to create recommendations on curbing the sale of counterfeit vaping products, which are suspected to be behind a mysterious illness that has caused hundreds in the U.S. to become sick. The order also calls for the department to increase enforcement of only selling vaping products to those over the age of 21. The order also allocated $20 million for a marketing campaign aimed at teens warning of possible health issues related to vaping.
Newsom’s executive order doesn’t go as far as the orders in New York and Michigan, which banned the sale of flavored e-cigarettes. He said at a press conference that he would like to ban flavored e-cigarettes in California but that state laws require legislative action to proceed. “It appears a governor alone is not afforded the right legally to ban those products outright,” Newsom said. “We’d need legislative support. We’re pushing the envelope, we’ll see how far we can go. I’m hopeful we can find a pathway to do just that, in the absence of any legislative push.”
Read it at San Francisco Chronicle
