MORGANTOWN — Two Morgantown legislators are taking aim at the problem of teen vaping.
Sen. Bob Beach, D-Monongalia, has written a letter to Gov. Jim Justice asking Justice to declare a public health state of emergency and ban sales of flavored vapes (which are known to appeal more to young vapers), along with suggesting some other actions.
Delegate Rodney Pyles, also D-Mon, is drafting a bill to require health-risk warning signs where vapes are sold.
Beach, in his letter, references the early November incident where to local high school students overdosed and were hospitalized after using heroin-laced vape pens.
He also cites a variety of health statistics from the Centers for Disease Control (we use updated figures here). Among them:
— As of Nov. 20, 2,290 cases of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use associated lung injury (EVALI) have been reported to CDC from 49 states (all except Alaska), the District of Columbia, and 2 U.S. territories (Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands).
— Forty-seven deaths have been confirmed in 25 states and the District of Columbia (as of November 20, 2019):
— Among the 2,016 cases of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use associated lung injury (EVALI) reported to CDC with available data on hospitalization status, 77% were under 35, with a median age of 24 years and age range from 13 to 78; 15% of patients were under 18.
— Among 1,184 patients who had complete information on substances used in the vaping, products in the 3 months prior to symptom onset, 83% reported using THC-containing products; 35% reported exclusive use of THC-containing products; 61% reported using nicotine-containing products; 13% reported exclusive use of nicotine-containing products; 48% reported both THC- and nicotine-containing product use.
Beach called on Justice to have the Department of Health and Human Resources create emergency rules to prohibit the sale of flavored vapes. He also would like State Police to investigate the sale and distribution of THC-containing vapes; have DHHR develop recommendations to reduce vape availability for minors; and have state agencies incorporate vaping product prevention and cessation educational materials into their other prevention and cessation programs.
Beach said in a Monday phone interview that he hadn’t heard back from Justice. “I honestly did not expect anything.”
He elaborated, “Right now I’m just trying to get the conversation going, and hopefully from that, some legislation will evolve.”
One challenge in combating sales to minors, he said, is that adults are going into the stores, buying vaping pods in bulk, and selling them to kids on the street.
Solutions might include eliminating vape sales and marketing at convenience stores and restricting sales to vaping stores, along with giving law enforcement whatever additional enforcement resources they might need.
Beach entertained the question of whether combating teen vaping might raise a debate of public health versus free enterprise.
He didn’t know, but said, “I still think we need to have this dialog, sit around the table whether it be with law enforcement or other legislators, include the governor’s staff, and see if there’s something we can at least do to take this out of the hands of our youth and stop them going down that path of nicotine use before it becomes a true addiction for them.”
While many people vape to transition away from cigarettes, once study – as reported by the anti-smoking group Truth Initiative – says teen vapers are four times more likely to try cigarettes than their non-vaping peers; and the National Institute on Drug Abuse says 30.7 percent of e-cig users started smoking within 6 months while only 8.1 percent of non-users started smoking.
Beach said that in the conversations he’s had with vapers, many have told him they’ve used it to transition from smoking. “My focus is really n let’s stop it from getting it into the hands of our kids.” He’s heard from many teachers that vaping is a problem all the way down to middle school.
Regarding Beach’s letter, Justice’s office said in an email, “At this time the governor has no official comment on this issue.”
The Pyles bill
Pyles said people have called and emailed him saying they anticipate the Legislature may attempt a vaping ban. “They said, ‘Please don’t do that. It’s helping us stop smoking’. So I wanted to do something short of an outright ban.”
He said he thought maybe warning signs might discourage some people, while also acknowledging people might ignore them the way they ignore warnings on cigarette packs.
The bill would require all vaping retailers to prominently display a sign with this text:
“Since the specific compounds or ingredients used in vapor products causing lung injury are not yet known, the only way to assure that you are not at risk while the investigation continues is to consider refraining from use of all e-cigarette, or vaping, products.
“If you are an adult using e-cigarettes, or vaping, products to quit cigarette smoking, do not return to smoking cigarettes. Adults addicted to nicotine using e-cigarettes should weigh all risks and benefits and consider utilizing FDA approved nicotine replacement therapies.
“If you continue to use e-cigarette, or vaping, products, carefully monitor yourself for symptoms and see a healthcare provider immediately if symptoms develop. Learn more at the U.S. Center for Disease control: CDC.gov.”
Failure to display a sign would lead to a written notification; continued failure would result in a $250 fine.
Pyles said the bill is still being drafted. Some issues have to be addressed, such as the size and format of the signs, how much they would cost and who would pay for them. He pictures them being about 11-by-14 inches and posing a relatively low cost to the state to supply to retailers. “ It shouldn’t be a big expense.”
Pyles said that the bill will be introduced sometime after the 2020 session kicks off on Jan. 8, and he’ll work to get co-sponsors to sign on.
Tweet David Beard @dbeardtdp Email dbeard@dominionpost.com
