Committee hears bill to ban single‑use disposable vapes amid safety and market‑fairness debate

Representative Matt Duffield (District 53) presented House Bill 16‑26, a proposal to ban single‑use disposable vaping products. The sponsor and a small‑business vape‑shop owner, Scout Stubbs, told the committee that many disposable vapes are manufactured abroad, carry deceptive labeling and in some tests contained heavy metals and solvents.

Stubbs, who identified herself as a small business owner and vape‑liquid manufacturer, said disposable vapes arrived on the U.S. market about three years ago and are overwhelmingly manufactured in China. She told the committee she had laboratory test results for a sample of products that showed nicotine levels discrepant with labeling and the presence of lead in at least one sample; in a broader set of samples Stubbs said several contained elevated ethanol and some…