SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — South Portland has become the next Maine community to ban the sale of flavored tobacco products.
City councilors voted 5-2 Tuesday night in favor of the ban.
Many people came to the meeting in person and on Zoom to share their thoughts on a flavored tobacco ban.
For folks like Leah Day, a South Portland resident whose son became addicted to vaping, this vote was personal.
“You’re saving a lot of lives," Day told NEWS CENTER Maine. "These kids could be vaping today and awakening their addictive behavior tomorrow, and so, we’ve stopped a lot of people from going down a very scary road.”
Some South Portland residents believe this ban is wrong and said kids will get flavored tobacco products regardless of a ban.
"You’re not stopping these kids," Sarah Adams argued before the city council. "Taking something away that’s actually helping people, other people, people that are legal to have it, I feel like that’s kind of a lazy way of fixing a problem, isn’t it?"
This ordinance has already been passed in Portland, Brunswick, and Bangor.
The ban is set to go into effect in April 2023.