Gov. Jay Inslee directed state officials to impose an emergency ban on flavored vaping products, one of several measures he announced Friday in response to the mysterious, sometimes fatal lung illness linked to e-cigarettes that has rippled across the nation.

In an executive order, Inslee directed the state Board of Health to use its emergency authority to ban all flavored vaping products, including those containing THC.

If adopted during the health board’s Oct. 9 meeting, the ban would go in effect the next day, last 120 days and could be renewed.

With that move, Washington would join at least two other states — Michigan and New York — in banning flavored vape products. Massachusetts this week went further, enacting a four-month ban on the sale of all vaping products.

In justifying his executive order, Inslee noted the government’s responsibility for public health and flavored vaping products’ particular appeal to children.

“These kids get hooked,” Inslee said at a Friday morning appearance in Seattle. The governor and other state and King County officials took turns at the microphone lambasting an unregulated industry that they said draws young customers with flavors such as bubblegum and cinnamon. [Read More @ The Seattle Times]