PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Rhode Island’s health department is proposing to permanently ban the sale of flavored vaping products in the state.

The department issued a public notice last week that it wants to make the temporary ban currently in effect permanent.

Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo supports a permanent ban. A hearing is set for Jan. 7 at the health department in Providence.

The department says it’s acting now because the temporary ban will soon lapse and officials there want to prevent teenagers and adolescents from vaping.

The vaping industry has criticized bans on flavored products, calling them the wrong approach to the problem of youth vaping.