LANSING, Mich. — Flavored e-cigarettes are back on sale in Michigan. On Tuesday, a judge blocked Governor Gretchen Whitmer's ban on them. The injunction came in a lawsuit filed against the state.
After hearing the news, 49-year-old Rachael Reed is sounding the praise bells.
"They have cookies and cream, they have chocolate chip, they have candies and cereals and they taste good," said Reed.
An avid cigarette smoker since 15, Reed says she and her husband tried everything to quit but nothing worked, except vaping.
"I did it for three years,” said Reed. “My husband did it for three years. He's still doing it and never once have we been in the hospital with a lung disease."
Reed says her husband went back to chewing tobacco but hopes he'll stop now that the ban on flavored vaping products is temporarily lifted.
With flavors like coffee, vanilla, and peach back on the shelf at least for now, local smoke shops say the injunction is a plus, but the ban of menthol flavor hurt the most.
"It's really good news because it brought the menthols back. The menthols again were what we were worried.That 35% of our business was the part where- we had customers some that were switching to our non-menthols but we had customers come in and say I just can't do it. I'm going to have to go back to burning tobacco," said John Whaley, manager of one of A Clean Cigaratte’s Lansing locations.
Whaley's employer A Clean Cigarette filed the lawsuit challenging the Governor's ban. He says the company was preparing to close 9 stores by the end of the month until yesterday's ruling. He thinks it's in the state's best interest to allow that ruling to stand.
"Our product is a great seller. It's for grownups. It's not for kids. It's not to blow a big, big poof of smoke. It's to help you get off of burning tobacco," said Whaley.
Whaley says e-cigarette sellers are hoping to reach a compromise with Governor Whitmer. But her office says she plans to appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court. We'll let you know what happens.
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