Oregon Court Strikes Down Cannabis Vape Products Ban

The Oregon Court of Appeals has extended the injunction on the state’s six-month ban on flavored vape products to cover cannabis vaporizers, Oregon Live reports. The court halted the ban on nicotine products last month but the new ruling extends to protect cannabis from the ban, as well.

Gov. Kate Brown (D) enacted the ban on October 4 following the spate of pulmonary lung illness linked to vaping. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control announced they had connected the disease to vape products containing vitamin E acetate – which the New York Health Department had linked to unregulated and counterfeit cannabis vape products in September.

The Court of Appeals’ decision on flavored cannabis vapes came in response to a lawsuit against the Oregon Liquor Control Commission by Herban Industries, which sells Winberry brand vape oil products. Those products contain a proprietary blend of terpenes that copy those found in cannabis but, because those terpenes aren’t derived from actual cannabis plants, the OLCC ban on terpenes in vape products affected the firm’s products, which comprise 80 percent of the company’s revenue.

The Court of Appeals case dealing with nicotine vapes was brought by the Vapor Technology Association trade group. In that case, the appeals court agreed that the vape ban enacted by the Brown administration would “cause the entire industry in Oregon to be destroyed.”

A similar ban failed a court challenge in New York last month.