Governor Steve Bullock’s plan to ban flavored vaping products in Montana starting October 22 may face a legal challenge from a vaping industry group.

Greg Conley, spokesman for The American Vaping Association said on Thursday that Governor Bullock does not have the authority to enact such a ban.

“We don’t believe that Governor Bullock actually has this legal authority,” said Conley. “The Montana Legislature recently considered and rejected a flavor ban earlier this year, so governors are elected to sign, veto and implement laws and not to unilaterally write them by abusing the state’s power to issue emergency rules during public health crises. We look forward to supporting a lawsuit to block this illegal ban from going into effect.”

Conley revealed in his view, the true culprit causing vaping illnesses and deaths across the country.

“The evidence from the national government as well as multiple state health departments continues to point to illicit contaminated THC products containing marijuana oils, not nicotine as causing the vast majority of these illnesses and being the primary driver of these illnesses,” he said. “In New York and Utah 96 percent of the illnesses and deaths reported vaping of illicit THC oils, and that is the problem.”

Conley said the drive to ban flavored e-cigarettes as opposed to tracking down and removing the contaminated THC products is political.

“Governors, desperate for press attention, for some of them to prop up a failing Presidential campaign, want to do nothing more than talk about nicotine vaping products because they see it as a winning political issue,” he said. “Meanwhile, giving proper warnings to stop people from possibly dying from products sold by drug dealers is perhaps not as attractive for Democratic governors.”

Conley said there is no set date for when opposing groups might file a legal action to challenge Governor Bullock’s ban that is set to go into effect on October 22.

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