Why did Hawaii’s Democratic governor veto a bill to ban e-cigarette flavours?

The Democratic governor of Hawaii appeared to take a step out of line with the US party’s common position when he vetoed a bill that would have introduced a ban on flavoured tobacco and vaping products.

Governor David Ige vetoed House Bill 1570, for an Act Relating to the Youth Vaping Epidemic, last month. As originally introduced, the bill would have banned the sale of flavoured tobacco products – including menthol – in Hawaii and placed restrictions on marketing vaping devices in ways designed to appeal to under-21s. It would have also banned the mislabelling of products as nicotine-free.