Local Merchant Files Injunction Against Gov. Baker's Vape Ban

Teen Vaping Addiction — FILE - In this Dec. 20, 2018, file photo, a man displays his Juul electronic cigarette while shopping at a convenience store in Hoboken, N.J. U.S. health officials are scrambling to keep e-cigarettes away from teenagers amid an epidemic of underage use. But doctors face a new dilemma: there are few effective options for weening young people off nicotine vaping devices like Juul.

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September 25, 2019

Updated September 26, 2019

Updated Sept. 26, 2019 at 7:40 p.m.

Gov. Charlie Baker’s emergency four-month ban on the sale of all e-cigarettes and vape products in Massachusetts is headed to court.

Behram Agha, owner of Vapor Zone at the Liberty Tree Mall in Danvers, wants a Suffolk Superior Court judge to lift the ban. He filed a preliminary injunction against the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the members of the Public Health Council, and Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner Dr. Monica Bharel on Thursday.

His attorney, Craig Rourke, said his client will be irreparably harmed if the ban is allowed to continue. “It’s a death sentence,” Rourke told WGBH News on Wednesday.

Baker ordered the ban, which is the first in the country, to give public health officials time to study the risks of e-cigarettes. The ban took place immediately and covers all flavored and unflavored vaping products.

Agha said he found out about the ban on Twitter, adding he will be out of business in a matter of days and his 11 employees will be out of work if the preliminary injunction isn’t granted. His entire inventory is now off-limits to customers.

He argues that the serious lung illness that health experts say has claimed 10 lives and sickened hundreds of people around the country should not be attributed to the items on his store shelves.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, who defends the state in court, supports the ban.

“Obviously vaping is a huge epidemic," she said. "I hear a lot of complaints from parents about their young people vaping. We need education, and we need action."

Healey launched an investigation into Juul, an electronic cigarette company, and two other companies in July 2018 over concerns they were marketing electronic smoking devices and other products to minors.

This article has been updated to reflect the filing of the lawsuit on Thursday.