Research from Stanford University shows that teenagers and young adults who vape face a higher risk of COVID-19. And while the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services works to control the coronavirus spread and proposes a flavored vape ban rule, a group of 20 legislators launched a process to poll all 150 state legislators, as potential court evidence, claiming the rule violates legislative intent.
They incorrectly cite HB 312 as proof. HB 312 was a flavored e-cigarette control bill that I sponsored in the 2019 legislative session and was tabled in committee. The bill had a robust public hearing, but when the committee tabled it, there was no legislative intent one way or another because it never made it to the full House or Senate. However, another bill, HB 413, which prohibits vaping in schools and on school property, did pass the full 2019 legislature with overwhelming support and does demonstrate legislative intent—to control the public health problem of vaping, just what the proposed rule would do.
During this global pandemic, our Governor has emergency executive powers to respond and lead our state safely through recovery. The DPHHS flavored vape ban rule falls within that authority. When legislators receive the polling materials in the mail over the next couple of weeks, God knows how many more Montana lives will have been lost to COVID-19. The argument that the DPHHS flavored vape ban rule and its public health protections violate legislative intent is baseless.
— Rep. Mary Ann Dunwell, House District 84
