The Oregon Court of Appeals put a temporary stop to the statewide ban on flavored cannabis vape products on Thursday, court documents show.

After two people in Oregon died from vaping-related lung injuries, Governor Kate Brown issued an executive order last month, prohibiting the sale of all flavored vape products. It was expected to last six months, but it was not long before the court halted the ban on flavored nicotine vapes.

The block was expanded to include flavored cannabis vapes after Herban Industries, a business in Oakland, California, filed a lawsuit against the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, the regulatory body that oversees Oregon’s cannabis industry. Following Brown’s order, the OLCC banned all THC oil vapes whose flavors come from chemicals that are not present in marijuana. 

Herban Industries claimed that the ban may leave it with no choice but to fire half of its employees statewide because it would otherwise disrupt over 80% of its earnings, according to court documents. 

The OLCC argued the ban should be kept in place because the cause of the vaping illness is still unknown. “Staying the challenged temporary rule during the pendency of this proceeding could jeopardize the health and welfare of Oregonians, including vulnerable youth to whom flavored vaping products are attractive, and cannot be justified,” the agency wrote in court documents.

The Court of Appeals sided with Herban Industries and decided to block the ban. The court said the ban could cause “irreparable harm” to Herban Industries’ business and cited a lack of sufficient evidence of a direct correlation between synthetic flavor chemicals and lung injuries. 

Related: “CDC identifies possible culprit in vaping related illnesses”

The Oregon Health Authority lists 17 reported cases of lung illnesses from vaping, including the two deaths, as of November 12. OHA said these cases have included “a mix of cannabis-only vaping, nicotine-only vaping and a combination of both.” It also verified that the list included cases of people that were diagnosed while under the age of 18. 
The Willamette Week was the first to report the hold on the ban.