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Statewide Flavored Tobacco Ban Won’t Happen Next Year

Multnomah County’s ban begins in January after a legal challenge failed earlier this year.

Mr. Hookah (Michael Raines)
By Lucas Manfield

There’s no sign of a renewed effort to ban flavored tobacco statewide, according to the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network which has been pushing, unsuccessfully, for such a ban. A crucial deadline to craft new legislation has already passed.

A bill to do so last year failed after facing opposition from distributors, who say banning the products will simply fuel an unregulated black market.

Advocates of a ban say the products target kids and encourage smoking. “The Oregon Legislature has once again failed to take the tobacco epidemic seriously,” said Jamie Dunphy, a government relations director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

Five other states have banned the sale of flavored nicotine products, as have Washington and Multnomah counties, although both have been challenged in court. Multnomah County’s ban begins in January after a legal challenge failed earlier this year.

Clarification: Lawmakers missed the deadline to request new legislative concepts. The deadline to introducing bills isn’t until January.

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