Washington state bans flavored vaping products

“Shame, shame, shame,” came the chant from dozens and dozens of protesters at the state Health Board’s meeting Wednesday in SeaTac.

They were opposing a ban on the sale of flavored vaping products in Washington.

But the board went ahead and approved a 120-day ban on the products despite the protest. The ban follows hundreds of illnesses across the country that are blamed on vaping. Seven of those cases have been in Washington.

It’s not clear exactly what products are causing the illness but some of the protesters say black-market goods are to blame.

"They're blaming flavored vaping? This stuff's been around for 15, 20 years, popularized in the last eight years. And nobody's gotten sick until this year, all of a sudden,” said James Hoy, who runs Northwest Fog Vapor Lounge in Oak Harbor.

Hoy said he used vaping to quit cigarettes, and he worries that his customers will go back to smoking. He also said that most of his business depends on flavored vaping products.

But Kathy Lofy, with the Department of Health, said vaping is creating a bigger problem than it’s solving.

“The kids that are both smoking and vaping are really not vaping to try to quit cigarette smoking,” she said. “In addition, even more kids who didn’t smoke — and probably never would have — started vaping.”

This week the La Conner School District sued Juul, a major manufacturer of vaping products, alleging that it marketed to schoolkids and got them addicted. Three other school districts elsewhere in the country also sued.