By SmileSmith25 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia
OLYMPIA — Legislators could soon consider a ban on flavored tobacco products such as vapes and menthol cigarettes. While supporters believe a ban is important for public health, opponents believe the ban could do more harm than good.
If passed, House Bill 1203 would ban the sale and advertising of any kind of flavored tobacco or nicotine product starting in 2026 – whether it be a cinnamon-flavored vape pen, a nicotine pouch or a menthol cigarette.
State Rep. Kristine Reeves (D-Federal Way) is the prime sponsor of the legislation.
CDC data from 2024 shows youth tobacco use is at a 25-year-low, with only 2.25 million middle and high schoolers reporting they currently use any kind of tobacco product.
Reeves said fruity or candy flavors have been used to draw young people into using tobacco.
The bill is not calling for a total ban — any product that is authorized by the Federal Food and Drug Administration would remain on shelves.
Within the past six months, certain Zyn nicotine pouches and menthol-flavored e-cigarettes received FDA marketing authorizations.
Tony Abboud, executive director of vaping advocacy group Vapor Technology Association, said vaping is a less harmful alternative to cigarettes and helps people quit smoking. He said banning flavored vapes will increase traditional cigarette use.
“It’s clearly a huge public health mistake and it’s going to cause a public health disaster in the state of Washington,” Abboud said.
The FDA has authorized 34 e-cigarette products to be sold in the United States as of January 2025. The agency says while e-cigarettes “can generally be a lower-risk alternative” to cigarettes, they are not risk-free and “there are no safe tobacco products.”
Abboud argued the ban could result in hundreds of millions of dollars in lost tax revenues, and lawmakers should instead consider limiting how the products are sold and advertised.
“We can implement marketing restrictions on how e-cigarettes are advertised, where they can be advertised. Where they can be sold, how they can be sold,” he said.
Reeves said the ban ultimately is that kind of limit, as there are no benefits to any nicotine product being on the market.
“I don’t want to hear the industry talk about how they’re providing a harm-reduction product for a problem they created — with both the invention of nicotine utilization, and quite frankly, with their promotion and targeting of Black African Americans and youth in the continuation of that product,” Reeves said.
Albert James is a reporter covering state government as part of the Murrow News Fellowship program, a collaborative effort between news outlets statewide and Washington State University.
