This week a Michigan Court of Claims Judge, Cynthia Stephens, issued a preliminary injunction on allowing the sale of flavored vaping products in Michigan. This comes weeks after Governor Gretchen Whitmer banned flavored vaping products, citing many dangers of youth vaping. The governor issued the ban under an emergency order. In her ruling, Judge Stephens said that e-cigarette companies presented sufficient evidence that their businesses would be irreparably harmed by the ban, and would likely win their case if it proceeded to a full trial. The judge also noted that there had been an eight-month gap between the time the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) had received the data it used to justify an emergency order.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said, “They are resolute in the efforts on behalf of Governor Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services to protect the health of Michigan’s children.” She said, “The youth vaping crisis is an urgent public health matter that demands immediate action, and [her office is] preparing to seek an immediate stay” that will seek to appeal the judge’s decision directly to the Supreme Court.
Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.
