Bill S 18, which would have prohibited the sale of any nicotine and tobacco products in tastes other than tobacco, was vetoed by Vermont Governor Phil Scott on April 3. Additionally, the law would have made it illegal to sell vaping products—flavored or not—online.
Gov. Scott said that safeguarding children has to be "balanced in such a way that we honor the liberties and rights of adults to make choices about their individual lives" in a letter outlining his decision. He pointed out that state regulations permitting the sale of flavored cannabis and alcohol goods would conflict with a restriction on flavored vapes and tobacco products, and he added that citizens would still have easy access to flavored items. Republican Scott has already discussed the loss of tax revenue that would result from a taste prohibition.
The bill was approved by the Vermont House on March 15th, 83–53, and by the State Senate on March 11th, 2023, 18–11. In order to overcome Scott's veto, the General Assembly would need a two-thirds majority in both chambers, which means that the bill's supporters will need to get more votes. The General Assembly's leaders are unsure whether they will try to overrule. The Vermont Digger was informed by a spokesman for Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth that the senator "hasn't yet made a decision."
"The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids issued an announcement that said “Gov. Phil Scott has shielded the tobacco industry at the cost of Vermont’s kids.”"
The measure would have prohibited all flavored consumer nicotine products, like as flavored vape pens, nicotine pouches, smokeless tobacco, and all combustible tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, if it had been signed into law (or if the General Assembly overrode Scott's veto). The Vermont measure would not exclude FDA-approved vape goods, in contrast to the PMTA registry laws that are threatening vape users in nearly twenty other states.
The veto enraged those opposed to tobacco use. In a statement, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said that Governor Phil Scott had shielded the tobacco industry at the cost of Vermont's children. In an odd assertion, the American Heart Association-Vermont said that "inhalational" nicotine products—as opposed to merely cigarettes—cause "more suffering, death, and cost to Vermonters" than alcohol and are thus more addictive.
There are now five states that have banned flavored vape pens: California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. Governor Spencer Cox of Utah signed a taste prohibition into law in March, and it will go into force on January 1, 2025.
