e-cigarettes

Montana’s Attorney General Office is joining a multi-state investigation into the vaping product manufacturer JUUL Labs.

Attorney General Tim Fox said in a press release that e-cigarette use among young people in the state has reached epidemic levels.

Some Montana vape and e-cigarette retailers are once again squaring off with the Bullock administration over the state’s temporary ban on the sale of flavored vaping products.

This time they disagree on when it ends.

One Montana vape store chain says it will continue providing its customers with the flavors they want despite the state’s temporary ban on the sale of flavored vaping products.

At least one Montana vape store is quickly pivoting to stay open under the state’s new temporary ban on the sale of flavored vaping products.

Montana’s Freedom Vapes stores are now offering customers do-it-yourself vaping kits in a potential workaround for the state’s new ban. This option comes 24 hours after the start of a four month statewide ban on the sale of flavored vaping products.

A statewide temporary ban on the sale of flavored vaping products is now in place after a last-minute legal move from store owners failed to block it. The ban runs until April 16.

Vape store owners are asking a Montana judge for an emergency motion to stop the Bullock administration from moving forward with a temporary ban on the sale of flavored vaping products.

The health department says it'll start enforcing that ban Wednesday.

Montana’s health department says it will begin enforcing its emergency ban on the sale of flavored vaping products beginning Dec. 18. The agency today said a temporary restraining order preventing the ban from taking effect expired October 28.

Six weeks ago Ravalli County District Judge Jennifer Lint heard arguments on a motion by industry groups seeking a preliminary injunction against the ban. Lint has not yet issued a ruling.

Two more cases of lung injuries associated with vaping products were confirmed in Montana Thursday. That brings the state’s total to 7 cases, including one death.

The state health department says both new cases involve people from Cascade County with a history of vaping. One of the individuals is in their teens and the other is in their 20s. An investigation continues into what specific products were used.

A lawsuit to block a temporary ban on flavored e-cigarettes and vaping products in Montana is now in the hands of a judge in Hamilton.

Ravalli County District Judge Jennifer Lint Friday said the lawsuit challenging implementation of the Bullock administration’s emergency rules to block the sale of flavored vaping products is officially now at the top of her to-do list.

The Bullock administration appeared in State District Court in Hamilton Wednesday to defend its order to temporarily halt the sale of flavored e-cigarettes in the state. A Montana vaping industry association is challenging that order, and a state judge has allowed the continued sale of flavored vaping products until a final ruling is made.

Montana Public Radio's Edward O'Brien was at the courthouse Wednesday and joins us now.