Joint Statement Calling on Gov. DeSantis to Veto Vaping Ban

Published on March 7, 2024

JOINT STATEMENT FROM THE VAPOR TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION & THE FLORIDA SMOKE FREE ASSOCIATION REGARDING FLORIDA GOV. RON DESANTIS’ DECISION CONSIDERATION OF
JOB-KILLING, INDUSTRY-CRUSHING VAPING LEGISLATION

WASHINGTON, D.C. – March 7, 2024 – The following statement is attributable to Tony Abboud, executive director of the Vapor Technology Association (VTA):

“On the way to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk is a job-killing, industry-crushing, and small-business-decimating piece of legislation that would cripple Florida’s vaping industry and remove a critical harm reduction and smoking cessation tool from tens of thousands of Floridian vapers.”

“Florida’s vaping industry generates $1.1 billion in economic impact for the state, and it is unconscionable that Gov. DeSantis is considering and, in fact, advocating for legislation which would eradicate $845.4 million in direct sales, $149.9 million in state tax revenue, and more than 6,200 jobs associated with this critical industry. Small businesses and business owners will be forced to shutter immediately.”

“You are a job-creating, freedom-loving governor who understands the rights of vapers, and you’ve been here before. In 2020, you vetoed a hastily drafted and ill-considered flavored vaping ban bill. The fact that you are now considering this current de facto ban and job-killing bill is a betrayal of those adults in Florida who enjoy flavored vaping products. Even more, your administration has asserted that this will be beneficial to the industry – this is simply not true.”

“This bill is the worst example of big government overreach, and it allows one person, Attorney General Moody, to single-handedly pick winners and losers. Signing this bill will do nothing to advance public safety or public health for Floridians who smoke. As you have noted, removing flavored vapes will only drive former smokers back to cigarettes – all while eliminating a billion-dollar industry in Florida and growing the black market.”

“VTA is calling on Gov. DeSantis to immediately reverse course on this misguided action. Jobs, economic growth, and the individual freedoms of Floridians are on the line. Make no mistake, this legislation would create a system worse than the Biden Administration’s broken and illegal FDA process.”

“Gov. DeSantis: Is this worth ruining your legacy with Florida’s vapers? This community and this industry have a long memory, and we won’t forget.”

Nick Orlando, president of the Florida Smoke Free Association, added:

“I am intimately familiar with the many critical stakeholders in the Florida vaping industry who generate over a billion dollars and thousands of jobs for the state economy. From the beginning, we have been engaged participants in shaping this freedom-loving state’s views on critical harm reducing vapes. This bill undermines the principles which you’ve always stood for as Governor. It is a mistake, and this bill needs to be vetoed.”

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