On December 21st of 2018, President Trump signed the First Step Act of 2018, which made significant changes to drug sentencing laws.
Now Michigan is going to replace drug dealers in prisons with minors who have flavored vaping products. Under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's recent executive order, anyone found with four or more flavored vaping products is “presumed to possess said items with the intent to sell”, punishable by imprisonment of six months and a fine per item.
Since pods are usually sold in packs of five, the fines and years of imprisonment will really add up. And in Michigan, a 17-year-old is an adult, so they will be heading off to prison, where statistics show they are more likely to be stigmatized for life by their arrest record than rehabilitated into...not possessing four flavored vaping pods?
Does Michigan want an entire generation of minors having these kinds of negative interactions with police officers? Do cops want this? Look at what happened to the reputation of New York City police when government boosted taxes on cigarettes so high a booming black market caused government revenue on cigarettes to decline, so they forced cops to crack down on sales of "loosies" to shore up that money. Eric Garner, that's what.
To people who don't know much about smoking cessation or kids, flavored vaping liquid might seem like it's targeted at kids. Except there is no evidence they create vapers from nicotine naïve youth. They were created because people quitting smoking don't want the taste of tobacco, it reminds them too much of cigarettes.
