The Ohio State Senate voted today to override Governor Mike DeWine’s veto of legislation that would prevent local governments from banning flavored vapes and tobacco, and imposing other local standards that exceed state restrictions.
The 24-8 senate vote came weeks after the State House voted 60-31 to override the veto. Gov. DeWine had used his line-item veto power to block the preemption language, which was included in the state budget bill passed last July.
The flavor ban preemption bill will become law in 90 days, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
The veto override will end the ban on flavored nicotine products passed by the city of Columbus (which took effect on Jan. 1.) It was the 2022 passage of that law that prompted Republicans in the state legislature to propose a law that would prevent cities and other municipalities from setting their own tobacco products standards.
According to the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA), 26 Ohio municipalities have enacted or considered local flavor ban ordinances in the last 18 months. Those laws will now be blocked, along with the Columbus flavor ban and a 2019 Toledo ordinance that bans the sale of flavored prefilled pods and cartridges.
In January 2023, DeWine vetoed a similar preemption law that was passed in December 2022. But because the governor issued his veto after the state legislature had ended its session, lawmakers were prevented from overriding the veto.
DeWine, himself a Republican, is a strong supporter of restrictions on vaping products, and has backed efforts to pass a statewide ban on flavored vapes.
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Because of declining cigarette sales, state governments in the U.S. and countries around the world are looking to vapor products as a new source of tax revenue.
The legal age to buy e-cigarettes and other vaping products varies around the world. The United States recently changed the legal minimum sales age to 21.
A list of vaping product flavor bans and online sales bans in the United States, and sales and possession bans in other countries.
