Michigan is the first state to ban sales of flavored e-cigarettes in a move the governor says will curb teen vaping.

Through a statement, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer directed the state health department to issue emergency rules to ban the sale of flavored nicotine vaping products in stores and online.

She will also restrict marketing, preventing companies from advertising vaping products as “clean,” “safe,” “healthy” and other terms that portray the products as “harmless.”

The ban goes into effect immediately and applies to both retail and online sales, though businesses have 30 days to comply.

In just one year - from 2017 to 2018 - the US Food and Drug Administration reported a 78% jump in school students vaping.

The move by Michigan's governor is the latest action in the US against e-cigarettes.

In June, San Francisco became the first US city to ban sales of e-cigarettes and lawmakers in Boulder, Colorado, passed a similar ban last week

E-cigarettes are generally considered less harmful than smoking cigarettes. But regulators and health officials are concerned about a teen vaping epidemic as millions of underage kids pick up the habit. Health officials worry that a new generation is becoming addicted to nicotine after years of progress curbing cigarette smoking.

Source:BBC