Close Menu
  • Home
  • News
    • Local
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Health
  • Education
  • Sports
  • Podcast

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

What's Hot

Titans and QB Cam Ward are dedicated to two ideals: Growth and Development

A Mouth for White Power: Stephen A. Smith’s Attack on Jasmine Crockett and the Black Resistance

As Others Retreat as Trump Hits Diversity, MacKenzie Scott Deepens Her Commitment to HBCUs With $63 Million to Morgan State

Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
  • Lifestyle
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest Vimeo
The Windy City Word
  • Home
  • News
    1. Local
    2. View All

    Youth curfew vote stalled in Chicago City Council’s public safety committee

    Organizers, CBA Coalition pushback on proposed luxury hotel near Obama Presidential Center

    New petition calls for state oversight and new leadership at Roseland Community Hospital

    UFC Gym to replace shuttered Esporta in Morgan Park

    Titans and QB Cam Ward are dedicated to two ideals: Growth and Development

    THE HUTCHINSON REPORT: Hit-and-Run Epidemic Continues to Plague South L.A

    Recognizing World Mental Health Day: How families play a crucial role in suicide prevention

    Denied Care, Divided Nation: How America Fails Its Sickest Patients—and the People Fighting Back

  • Opinion

    Capitalize on Slower Car Dealership Sales in 2025

    The High Cost Of Wealth Worship

    What Every Black Child Needs in the World

    Changing the Game: Westside Mom Shares Bally’s Job Experience with Son

    The Subtle Signs of Emotional Abuse: 10 Common Patterns

  • Business

    Illinois Department of Innovation & Technology supplier diversity office to host procurement webinar for vendors

    Crusader Publisher host Ukrainian Tech Businessmen eyeing Gary investment

    Sims applauds $220,000 in local Back to Business grants

    New Hire360 partnership to support diversity in local trades

    Taking your small business to the next level

  • Health

    THE HUTCHINSON REPORT: Hit-and-Run Epidemic Continues to Plague South L.A

    Recognizing World Mental Health Day: How families play a crucial role in suicide prevention

    Denied Care, Divided Nation: How America Fails Its Sickest Patients—and the People Fighting Back

    Unbreakable: Black Women and Mental Health

    A Question of a Government Shutdown?

  • Education

    Head Start Gave the Author an Early Inspiration to Share Her Story

    Alabama’s CHOOSE Act: A Promise and a Responsibility

    After Plunge, Black Students Enroll in Harvard

    What Is Montessori Education?

    Nation’s Report Card Shows Drop in Reading, Math, and Science Scores

  • Sports

    Titans and QB Cam Ward are dedicated to two ideals: Growth and Development

    HBCU Football Week 5 Roundup: Jackson State keeps the Good Times Rolling

    Jackson State Dominates Southern on the Road, Wins Boombox Classic

    Conference Commissioners Discuss Name, Image, and Likeness in Washington

    Week 4 HBCU Football Recap: DeSean Jackson’s Delaware State Wins Big

  • Podcast
The Windy City Word
Local

Ban on flavored vapes passes Cook County Board

staffBy staffUpdated:No Comments4 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Telegram LinkedIn Tumblr Email Reddit
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest WhatsApp Email

The sale of flavored e-cigarettes has been banned in unincorporated Cook County by unanimous vote of the County Board Thursday.

The ordinance affects 42 retailers and is expected to only put a minor dent — less than $10,000 — in the taxes collected on nicotine products, according to the county’s finance department.

Advertisement

County Commissioner Donna Miller, the lead sponsor, made two tweaks to the ordinance since it was first announced: She extended the ban to menthol and mint-flavored vapes — a key request from health advocates — and is giving retailers 60 days to comply, rather than making the ban immediately effective.

Miller and supporters said the ban would help keep the products out of the hands of teens in the hopes of preventing long-term nicotine addiction and reducing the costs of treating lung damage in the long term.

Advertisement

“A ban on flavored nicotine liquid will reduce nicotine addiction and lung damage caused by inhalation of nicotine-containing liquid,” Dr. Susanna McColley and Dr. Maria Rahmandar of Lurie Children’s Hospital wrote in submitted testimony. Both work in the hospital’s pulmonary and substance abuse divisions. “Decades of research have proven that the adolescent brain is much more susceptible to nicotine addiction than the adult brain; this risk of addiction persists into the early 20s, well past the age of legal purchase.”

Physicians who testified during a committee hearing Wednesday said menthol was especially important to ban, since many that become addicted to nicotine start with menthol products

The ban applies to “any liquid nicotine product that contains a constituent that imparts a characterizing flavor,” including “tastes or aromas of menthol, mint, wintergreen, chocolate, vanilla, honey, cocoa, any candy, any dessert, any alcoholic beverage, any fruit, any herb, or any spice.” It does not apply to tobacco-flavored vapes.

Afternoon Briefing

Daily

Chicago Tribune editors’ top story picks, delivered to your inbox each afternoon.

The ordinance gives the sheriff power to “conduct unannounced inspections” on retailers or vending machine operators selling nicotine products. Violators would be subject “to a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000 for each offense.”

Displaying any flavored nicotine products would garner a $500 fine for a first offense and could result in the loss of a retailer’s license for more than three violations within a 12-month period.

The Illinois Fuel and Retail Association, which represents convenience stores and gas stations, was opposed, warning the ban would only drive “adult consumers to other counties or across state lines and to illicit markets where sellers are unconcerned about age-of-purchase laws and other efforts to prevent youth access to these age-restricted products.”

Some commissioners who ultimately voted in favor of the ban expressed worries that it might push teens and adults to purchase vapes online or from unlicensed retailers. Miller said she’d “be happy for us to work as the county board to coordinate with the city of Chicago on how to eliminate the black market,” but that she wanted to encourage “other home rule municipalities to adopt the same sort of legislation that the city of Chicago has adopted.”

Chicago banned the sale of flavored e-cigarettes in 2020, on top of an indoor vaping ban and a tax on e-cigarettes. Suburban retailers and shoppers told the Tribune in November that ban helped push customers their way.

Advertisement

Commissioner Kevin Morrison, who said he smoked as a teen, also said he worried about the potential purchase of vapes laced with fentanyl. Alongside bans designed for prevention, he said the county should be providing more resources to help current smokers quit.

Morrison said he was “in full agreement that whatever we can do to stop youth from starting to use nicotine products to begin with is 100% something we should be doing, but for those who already are addicted, the support system’s not there. That needs to change and needs investment.”

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp Telegram Email
Previous ArticleFuzzy falcon chicks who nest at Michigan State football stadium get tracking bands
Next Article Cannabis, hemp companies fight over whether to ban or regulate intoxicating products like delta-8-THC
staff

Related Posts

Youth curfew vote stalled in Chicago City Council’s public safety committee

Organizers, CBA Coalition pushback on proposed luxury hotel near Obama Presidential Center

New petition calls for state oversight and new leadership at Roseland Community Hospital

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Video of the Week
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxFXtgzTu4U
Advertisement
Video of the Week
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjfvYnUXHuI
ABOUT US

 

The Windy City Word is a weekly newspaper that projects a positive image of the community it serves. It reflects life on the Greater West Side as seen by the people who live and work here.

OUR PICKS

HEADLINES

Women in Auto Tech: A HUGE Opportunity!

Subaru Forester Review: Interior & Infotainment

MOST POPULAR

THE HUTCHINSON REPORT: Hit-and-Run Epidemic Continues to Plague South L.A

Recognizing World Mental Health Day: How families play a crucial role in suicide prevention

Denied Care, Divided Nation: How America Fails Its Sickest Patients—and the People Fighting Back

© 2025 The Windy City Word. Site Designed by No Regret Medai.
  • Home
  • Lifestyle
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.