Oregon: Lawmakers consider banning flavored vaping products

Lawmakers in Oregon, USA, are currently considering a proposal to ban the sale of flavored vaping products, a measure health officials say is essential to combating nicotine addiction among children and adolescents.

A bill supported by many stakeholders

Senate Bill 702 supporters explain that flavored vaping products " smell like candy " and are seen as gateways to addiction for young people. It has garnered strong support from Democratic senators and representatives, including Senator Janeen Sollman, who also supports a bill to install vaping smoke detectors in bathrooms at high schools with more than 1,000 students, noting the increasing use of these devices inside schools.[1].

This bill has the support of many health professionals, public health experts, and tobacco control groups. Teachers and parents are also rallying behind the ban, noting an alarming increase in e-cigarette use among younger and younger schoolchildren. While these products are prohibited for sale to those under 21, experts point out that it is very easy for young people to obtain them from retailers who do not comply with the law.

A major public health issue to protect young people

These efforts are facing strong opposition from the tobacco industry and its allies, as well as some Republican lawmakers. Among the bill's opponents is Republican Senator David Brock Smith, who believes vaping flavors are an alternative and a way out of traditional smoking. This analysis is challenged by Erika Moseson, a physician in the intensive care and pulmonology unit at Legacy Health, who does not recommend the use of vaping devices for smoking cessation and prefers to direct people toward nicotine replacement therapy.

Jennifer Little, director of Klamath County Public Health, says the nicotine addicts her department serves are increasingly younger. She says many parents and teachers are calling to report students smuggling flavored nicotine products into classrooms, restrooms, and school buses.

Oregon's current initiative is part of a series of efforts by several states to reduce tobacco and nicotine use among young people. They have been banned from sale in Massachusetts since 2020 and in California since 2022. New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island have also adopted similar restrictions. Some Oregon counties have already attempted to pass their own bans on flavored tobacco and nicotine products, for example, Multnomah County, which in January 2024 was denied a ban on these products by the Oregon Court of Appeals.[2].

In 2020, Oregon voters already approved a tax increase on tobacco products and e-cigarettes through Measure 108, with funds earmarked to fund the state's public health programs. Banning flavored tobacco and nicotine products would therefore be a logical extension of these efforts to protect youth health, experts point out.

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[1] Green, Aimee, Oregon legislators consider ban on flavored tobacco that officials say addicts children still in elementary school, Oregon Live, published March 5, 2025, accessed March 6, 2025

[2] De Dios, Austin, Oregon Court of Appeals stalls Multnomah County's flavored tobacco ban, Oregon Live, published December 29, 2023, accessed March 6, 2025

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