LANSING, Mich. — Governor Whitmer will be taking her vaping ban to the Supreme Court.
Last week the Court of Claims blocked the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ emergency rules that banned flavored nicotine vaping products.
On Friday, Governor Gretchen Whitmer filed an application for emergency leave with the Michigan Court of Appeals and asked the Michigan Supreme Court to take the case directly, according to a press release from Whitmer's office.
The release says that the ruling from the Court of Claims "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.”
Whitmer's filing states:
“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.”
Governor Whitmer ordered the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to issue the emergency rules to ban the sale of flavored nicotine vaping products in all retail stores and online in September, after her Chief Medical Executive, Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, made a finding that youth vaping constitutes a public health emergency, according to the release.
Statistics show nicotine e-cigarette use jumped 78% last year alone. In 2018, 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. These rates are still climbing, likely fueled by the availability of flavors akin to apple juice, bubble gum, and Nerds.
You can view the filing here.
The State of Michigan submitted an emergency application today to stay the injunction issued by the Court of Claims against Gov. Whitmer’s ban on flavored vaping products, and also requested that the Michigan Supreme Court bypass the Court of Appeals and immediately consider the matter.
In response, state Rep. Julie Brixie (D-Meridian Township) issued the following statement:
“I applaud the actions of Governor Whitmer and Attorney General Nessel today and will continue to do all I can to support these efforts in the Legislature. The governor’s ban on flavored vaping products was a bold, necessary step to address the predatory advertising that has caused a vaping epidemic among our youth. We have a moral obligation to help prevent an entirely new generation from falling victim to lifelong addiction to nicotine and the associated health risks.”
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