Utah Governor Approves Flavor Ban and PMTA Registry Bill
On March 20, Governor Spencer Cox passed bill SB 61 into law, making Utah the sixth state in the US to outlaw flavored vape vaporizers and the fifth with a PMTA registry statute. On January 1, 2025, the legislation will go into force.
There are now around twenty more state legislatures debating PMTA registry measures. Registry laws have already been approved by state legislatures in Vermont, Virginia, and Florida and are awaiting signature or veto from the governors. The tobacco industry heavyweights R.J. Reynolds and Altria Group, who have lost a lot of money on cigarette sales to illegal disposable vapes, are the ones who wrote and are promoting the registry measures.
The Utah measure, which was comfortably approved by the State Legislature's two chambers in February, places further obstacles in the way of vaping firms and customers in a state where laws governing vape products are already rather intricate. The legislation will
- Prohibit the selling of e-cigarettes and menthol-flavored goods.
- Prohibit the sale of goods for which the FDA has not issued a marketing authorization or for which the FDA is currently reviewing premarket tobacco applications (PMTAs).
- Outlaw the sale of any illicit synthetic nicotine products, even those that still have outstanding PMTAs.
- Set an e-liquid nicotine concentration limit of 4% (40 mg/mL).
- Mandate that, by August 1st, producers submit to the state the names of the items they want to sell, evidence that the products fulfill state standards, and a $1,000 charge per product.
- By October 1st, compile a register of state-approved items (a PMTA registry).
- Starting on January 1, 2025, prohibit the sale of any vape goods that are not listed on the state register.
Only seven vaping devices (as well as tobacco-flavored refills for them) have been approved by the FDA. Three major tobacco companies—Altria (NJOY), Reynolds (Vuse), or Japan Tobacco (Logic)—manufacture every vaporizer that has received FDA approval. No bottled e-liquid, no open-system (refillable) product, and no non-tobacco flavor product have received FDA approval for commercialization.
Supporters of the law claim that it would stop Utah's young vaping "epidemic." Sponsor of the measure, state senator Jen Plumb, is a physician who says she has seen Utah kids in emergency rooms at hospitals experiencing nicotine withdrawal.
Utah currently forbids private persons from purchasing vape devices online and places restrictions on the amount of nicotine that may be found in goods sold there.
Additionally, PMTA register (or directory) legislation has been approved in Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin. The sale of the majority of flavored vapes is prohibited in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, California, New Jersey, and New York.
