NJ Plans E-Cigarette Ban As Deadly 'Outbreak' Grows Dramatically

NEW JERSEY – New Jersey could be the first state to take the most dramatic action against vaping now that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has declared an e-cigarette illness outbreak.

New Jersey plans to be the first state that will ban the sale of all electronic smoking devices. The state would ban the sale of nicotine cartridges and containers as well as all other vapor products.

Gov. Phil Murphy also announced that he is planning to form a task force to review the issue.

The actions come as the number of vaping illnesses across the country more than doubled in just the past week, from 215 to 450, while the number of New Jersey cases rose from 15 to 19 during the same period, according to the CDC and the state Department fo Health.

Six have died in the U.S.

“These initiatives could be the first steps towards a total ban on the sale of all vaping products, including e-cigarettes," said Senate President Steve Sweeney. "I will propose a plan to phase out the sale of all vaping products over the next few years.”

The actions also come as at least four lawsuits have been filed in New Jersey against e-cigarette makers, all claiming that the product has hooked a new generation of young people to a potentially dangerous substance.

One New Jersey user reportedly talked about vomiting up blood. Others said they've become hopelessly addicted and perpetually sick. Read more: NJ's Vaping Sicknesses Nearly Double In Growing 25-State Outbreak

The Trump administration also said it is pushing toward a ban on all flavored vaping products.

Sen. Shirley Turner, D-Mercer, has introduced legislation, S-3265, that would make New Jersey the second state after Michigan to prohibit the sale or distribution of flavored electronic smoking devices and related products. Sen. Joe Vitale, D-Middlesex, has authored a bill to limit the sales of e-cigarettes.

“The health and safety and even the lives of young people are at risk,” said Sweeney. “The flavored products are targeted at teenagers and young adults with the intent of luring them into addiction.

"We should not allow another generation to get addicted to a product that lowers life expectancy and seriously damages their heart and lungs. Here is a product that we know is seriously harming the health of users, especially our youth.”

According to the U.S. Surgeon General, e-cigarette use among middle and high school students increased by 900 percent between 2011 and 2015, and a 2015 report from the National Health Interview Survey found that 40 percent of young e-cigarette users were never smokers before trying e-cigarettes.

Sweeney noted that the New England Journal of Medicine declared that vaping is “clearly an epidemic that begs for an urgent response.”

“There is an urgency here with the health and safety – and even the lives – of young people at risk,” said Sweeney. “That is why I will propose a complete ban on all vaping products.”

Just this week, the FDA criticized JUUL for illegally marketing e-cigarettes as less harmful than cigarettes. “JUUL has ignored the law, and very concerningly, has made some of these statements in school to our nation’s youth,” the FDA said in a letter to the e-cigarette company.