Northeast officials team up to push pot, vaping regulations

| 23 Oct 2019 | 08:37

    (AP) The governors from several Northeastern states said Oct. 17 they want to work together to regulate marijuana and vaping, including possible regional restrictions on flavored vaping products. Democratic governors from New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania met in New York City with health and legislative officials. Representatives from Massachusetts and Colorado were also on hand for the meeting. "What we want to do is coordinate this on a regional basis,'' said Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, noting how the "patchwork quilt of marijuana regulations makes no sense at all.'' He said the group came up with"very preliminary'' principles concerning how to regulate legalized, recreational marijuana, such as agreeing to have similar policies for THC content, edibles, advertising and taxation in order to dissuade people from turning to the illicit market. Earlier this month, a state appeals court temporarily blocked New York from enforcing Gov. Andrew Cuomo's 90-day emergency ban on such products after the vaping industry sued to block the regulations. Cuomo said a lack of federal action on pot and vaping regulations means it's up to states to act. He noted that marijuana is often vaped and states should also consider that when considering marijuana legalization.