State Rep. Beau LaFave, of Iron Mountain, today issued the following statement after a judge granted Marc Slis’, the owner of 906 Vapor in Houghton, motion to temporarily block Gov. Whitmer’s flavored nicotine ban:

“Us Yoopers are fighters. We will fight this unconstitutional, unilateral and unwise executive action with every fiber of our being. Today’s court ruling shows that when the residents of the Upper Peninsula stand united, Lansing does take note. We will not be silent while our rights are taken away by a governor with no regard to the laws, the Legislature and the public. Sometimes the Legislature needs help. I cannot thank Mr. Slis enough for putting his neck out on the line and standing up for every small business in the state of Michigan. If they can ban e-cigarettes with absolutely no scientific evidence to back up their fake epidemic, what other legal product will she ban next? With Yoopers united, the answer is nothing.”

Before the ban was implemented, LaFave introduced House Bill 4996, which would eliminate the governor’s ability to ban e-cigarettes without consent of the Legislature. LaFave mentioned the United Kingdom has determined e-cigarettes to be 95 percent less harmful than traditional tobacco cigarettes, adding 80 percent of adult e-cigarette users prefer flavored nicotine as a safer alternative to quit the habit of smoking more dangerous combustible tobacco.