Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced Friday she will take her vaping ban decision to the Supreme Court.
The governor filed an application for an emergency leave with the Michigan Court of Appeals and asked the Michigan Supreme Court to take the case. This move was in response to last week's Court of Claims order blocking the state Department Health and Human Services' emergency rules banning flavored nicotine vaping products.
On Oct. 15, Court of Claims judge called into question the Department's emergency finding. Gov. Whitmer's office stated the judge's ruling "would seriously undermine the Governor's ability to respond to emergent threats to public health, safety and welfare."
“After seeing how the Flint water crisis was mishandled, it’s more important than ever that we listen to our public health officials when they make recommendations to protect our citizens,” said Governor Whitmer. “Our Chief Medical Officer has found that the explosive increase in youth vaping that we’ve seen over the past few years is a public health emergency. For the sake of our kids and our overall public health, we must act swiftly to get these harmful and addictive products off the market. I’m hopeful that the Supreme Court will immediately take up this case so we can ensure our kids’ safety.”
Here's what Whitmer's official filing for emergency leave stated:
“the court of claims not only misunderstood the law and errantly issued a preliminary injunction, it also fundamentally compromised both the public health of this state and the exercise of core and critical power of the executive branch. […] By enjoining Defendants from enforcing the Rules that were enacted to address this emergency, the court of claims left this state paralyzed in a perilous status quo, and marked out a form of judicial intervention that is both dangerous and contrary to law: courts second-guessing the expert judgment of public health officials dealing with a public health emergency.”
Nationwide, the use of nicotine e-cigarettes jumped 78% in 2018.
Last year, more than 3.6 million U.S. kids, including 1 in 5 high school students and 1 in 20 middle school students were regular users.
