Moorhead leaders discuss licensing e-cigarette vendors, abolishing lengthy tobacco sampling

By: Erik Burgess, INFORUM

MOORHEAD – Hoping to curb sales to minors, the city could soon require e-cigarette vendors to be licensed and subjected to compliance checks like traditional tobacco sellers.

State law in Minnesota – and local ordinances in West Fargo and Fargo – prevents the sale of e-cigarettes to minors.

But because Moorhead doesn’t license e-cigarette vendors, there’s no registry of businesses that sell them and no one doing compliance checks to make sure e-cigarettes aren’t being sold to minors, Keely Ihry, of Clay County Public Health, told City Council members Monday.

New state e-cigarette laws give statutory authority to cities to license and regulate e-cigarettes, which Ihry argued are being targeted to and becoming more popular among teens.

Ihry passed around e-cigarette, or “vape pen,” samples to council members Monday, noting the colorful packaging and the myriad flavors like Skittles, bacon and strawberry banana.

“To subject any of our youth to an addictive substance such as nicotine, with the additional pleasures of scent to draw them in, it’s just unbelievable,” said Councilwoman Nancy Otto, who was the most vocal on wanting to license e-cigarette vendors.

“Otherwise, it’s basically a free-for-all,” Otto said. “We’ve got nobody that is going in to check these facilities.”

Council members Mike Hulett and Brenda Elmer said they would support licensing e-cigarette vendors in Moorhead. City Manager Michael Redlinger said the council could vote on it at the end of the month or in June.

Police Chief David Ebinger also urged the council on Monday to consider abolishing what he called a “deceptive sampling practice” in the tobacco industry.

Some tobacco vendors are taking advantage of a broadly worded state law that allows “sampling” of cigars, tobacco or hookah indoors, he said. Instead of offering a taste or two, some shops are allowing lengthy, hour-long smokes.

That’s not the spirit of the sampling provision, Ebinger said,

“You don’t sit down … and smoke an entire cigar or two of them in a bar, and call it ‘sampling,’ ” he said.

The chief proposed that Moorhead set up an ordinance that would prevent lengthy tobacco sampling and only allow limited sampling if a customer was looking to make a “bona fide purchase” of a product, like a hookah.

Hookahs On Main, 815 Main Ave., is the only hookah shop in Moorhead that allows such lengthy sampling, said City Clerk Michelle French, but she and Ebinger said others have inquired about setting up similar businesses.

If the council decides to pass a more restrictive sampling law, Hookahs on Main would be grandfathered in, Ebinger said. Still, the law would prevent more of these shops from setting up in Moorhead, he said.

“It’s a public health issue,” Ebinger said, arguing that hookah tobacco can be just as dangerous as standard cigarettes.

Redlinger said law enforcement also sometimes has disturbance and neighborhood issues with hookah shops.

The City Council denied a tobacco license renewal in February for the former owner of Hookahs on Main, then called Pyromaniacs, after learning that police regularly received complaints of loud noise and parties at the business.

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/435266/

You Now Have To Be 21 Years Old To Buy Cigarettes In New York City

 | by  Brigitte Dusseau

New York raised the minimum age to buy cigarettes to 21 on Sunday, in its latest initiative to encourage healthier behavior among residents.

The law, signed November 19 shortly before former mayor Michael Bloomberg finished his third term, had a six-month waiting period before it came into effect — but its impact can already be clearly felt.

“Under 21, no tobacco,” warned a small sign at the entrance of a small shop that sells smokes, newspapers, candy, coffee and cakes, in the Nolita neighborhood (North of Little Italy).

No tobacco, either, for anyone who can’t present a valid ID proving their age. Shopkeeper scan IDs to test their authenticity before handing over the box of cigarettes.

The measure — unprecedented among America’s big cities — raises the legal age to buy cigarettes from 18. It also applies to other forms of tobacco and to e-cigarettes.

It’s the latest of New York’s efforts to reduce smoking in the city, which bans cigarettes and, as of April 29, e-cigarettes in restaurants and bars, in parks or squares, and at the city’s public beaches. Some private residential buildings have also banned smoking.

Cigarette taxes in the city are also the highest in the country: $5.85 a carton, which brings the overall price to around $12. In addition, the city has established a minimum price of $10.50 a box for cigarettes.

Nataleigh Kohn, 23, who works at a startup company, underwent her ID check with good grace.
“It is a good thing. People in high school can’t start smoking,” she said.
Thomas Wall, 24, a former smoker who works in architecture, agreed, though he said the measure probably wouldn’t eliminate teen smoking all together.
He compared the new age restriction to the ones around alcohol, which set the US drinking at at 21.
When underage people want alcoholic drinks, they often get them from older people who buy for them.
Shopkeeper Muhammad Arisur Khaman said he’s seen some complaints since the law was implemented, but not many. He just tells unhappy clients: “It’s the law.”
The higher minimum age is “a step in the right direction,” said Pat Bonadies, a teacher walking with a group of students in Union Square.
The 52-year-old said there has been a sea change in attitudes towards smoking.
“When I was younger, smoking was much more prevalent among teenagers and preteens in restaurants and social settings,” she said.
“Even my mother’s friends, they smoked during their pregnancies.”
The city has seen a sharp drop in adult smokers, from 21.5 percent in 2002 to 14.8 percent in 2011, according to official statistics.
But the smoking rate among young people has been steady since 2007, at 8.5 percent, which was part of the impetus for raising the minimum age.
Authorities hope that the new law will cut the smoking rate among 18 to 20 years by more than half.
New York hopes to inspire other cities to pass similar age restrictions.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/18/new-york-city-cigarettes-minimum-buying-age-now-21_n_5348490.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063

With few regulations, e-cigs grow in popularity throughout area

By: Patrick Springer, INFORUM

MOORHEAD – Aaron Templin tried quitting smoking multiple times but his efforts always fizzled after a matter of days.

Nicotine patches or gum never appealed to him as the path to cessation. Then, at a friend’s suggestion, he tried one of the much-in-vogue electronic cigarettes, which are tobacco-free but allow users to inhale a vapor, usually containing nicotine.

Two months later, he and his fiancée consider themselves ex-smokers on the way to breaking free from nicotine altogether.

“It was really easy,” Templin said. “Whenever we had a craving, we’d have an e-cigarette.”

E-cigarettes find themselves under a cloud – enthusiastically embraced by some as a safer alternative to conventional cigarettes, while under fire from health officials who vehemently warn the unregulated products can make no scientifically valid safety claims.

The Food and Drug Administration is taking steps to regulate e-cigarettes, including banning their sale to those under the age of 18 and requiring makers to disclose ingredients.

“I can’t stress enough that there are a lot of unknowns and there isn’t enough scientific evidence” to prove the safety of e-cigarettes and similar devices, said Jeanne Prom, executive director of BreatheND.

Three recent studies cast doubt on the safety or effectiveness of e-cigarettes as alternatives to smoking, she said.

One published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that e-cigarettes did not help smokers quit or reduce their use of conventional cigarettes.

Another study published in JAMA concluded that e-cigarettes did not discourage tobacco use, while the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research suggest that some e-cigarettes yield formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, with their nicotine-laden vapor.

“Until they’re proven to be great, we’ll treat them with caution,” said Prom, who urges users or those considering e-cigarettes to do the same. She stressed that multiple proven smoking cessation methods are available, including over-the-counter options.

Templin, a Moorhead resident who smoked for nine years, has read news reports about health concerns regarding e-cigarettes. But his experience persuades him that their benefits outweigh possible risks as a safer alternative to conventional cigarettes.

“They are obviously a healthier alternative to analog cigarettes, and an excellent way to kick the habit,” he said. “It worked for me and my fiancée, and it was almost effortless.”

The nicotine potency of the e-cigarette “juice” that Templin uses has diminished dramatically, he said, as he weans himself. He also uses the device less often.

His fiancée, Linsey Kneisl, rarely uses hers, he said.

Inhaling the vapor is a lot like smoking a cigarette, which makes it an attractive substitute for someone trying to quit, Templin said.

“It’s just like smoking,” he said. “That helps.”

Others have embraced e-cigarettes as less bothersome than secondhand smoke.

Lindzee Morgan of Fargo is not an e-cigarette user, but persuaded her boyfriend, a smoker, to switch to the vapor-emitting alternative.

“I hate cigarette smoke and having to be around it,” she said, “but now I don’t have to worry about it. The e-cigs don’t have a terrible smell and actually some of them smell quite pleasant.”

As for health effects, Morgan said she is much less concerned for herself and her boyfriend “even after reading the numerous articles out there.”

Because e-cigarettes are unregulated, consumers can’t be certain what they contain, regardless of what manufacturers list, said Holly Scott, tobacco prevention coordinator at Fargo Cass Public Health.

Although some e-cigarette juice is billed as nicotine-free, “What guarantee do you have as a consumer that there’s no nicotine?” she asked.

Darius Endres, co-owner of Sports Vape, a vendor of e-cigarettes and juice on South University Drive in Fargo, said regulation is inevitable, including banning the sale to minors and requiring ingredients to be listed.

North Dakota already includes e-cigarettes in its smoke-free law, which prohibits smoking in public buildings. A growing number of cities ban the sale of e-cigarettes or juice to those under 18 and require behind-the-counter sales.

“I am completely done with smoking, Enders said, adding that he uses only nicotine-free juice.

Sports Vape is one of a growing number of e-cigarette sellers in Fargo-Moorhead, reflecting the rapidly growing adoption of the smoking alternative.

Although at least a handful of specialty shops have opened, Scott said most e-cigarettes and juice probably are sold at gas stations and convenience stores, where they are commonly featured alongside tobacco products.

Both Prom and Scott worry that e-cigarettes, with their fruity flavor options and bright packaging, are being marketed to children.

The significant drop in prices also is of concern, said Prom, who noted that the cost of a “starter kit” when look-alike e-cigarettes first appeared on the market was $50 to $100.

Now a bottle of juice that can last a week costs $7, she said.

Anecdotally, both Scott and Prom have received reports that e-cigarettes are being used by schoolchildren around the state.

A check with school administrators in the Fargo, West Fargo, Moorhead and Northern Cass public school districts, however, indicates that no reports have reached the central school offices.

Moorhead has added e-cigarettes to its anti-tobacco policy, and Northern Cass will do so soon, according to school officials. Scott predicts that most school districts will follow.

The claims by e-cigarette proponents that they provide a safe alternative to tobacco echo earlier claims, including filtered and menthol cigarettes, Prom said. Studies later debunked those claims.

Meanwhile, e-cigarette backers say they have studies to show the safety of the products. Those on both sides of the debate agree that science has more work to do to settle the issue.

“We’re actually still probably rounding first base right now as far as the studies go,” Endres said.

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/435123/group/homepage/

Partial indoor e-cigarette "vaping" ban heads to Dayton for signature

Posted by: Abby Simons, Star Tribune

A retooled measure that would ban the use of electronic cigarettes—commonly known as “vaping”– in some public places head to Gov. Mark Dayton’s desk for signature into law.

The measure re-passed the House 93-35 and the Senate 52-13 Thursday as part of the Health and Human Services Policy omnibus bill, which also includes a ban on the use of indoor tanning beds by children under 18.

The final version of the bill prohibits vaping in most government-owned buildings including correctional facilities, daycare facilities including home daycares, hospitals and any buildings owned by the University of Minnesota or Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, including dorm rooms. The bill does not ban use in city-owned buildings, but they have the option of adopting by equal or more strict bans.

The bill also require4s child-proof packaging for all e-cigarette liquids p[prohibits e-cigarette use in public schools, bans retail sales from mall kiosks and allows local governments to pass stronger restrictions and ensure penalties for sale of e-cigarettes to minors.

The final result was a compromise between a stricter Senate versions authored by Sen. Kathy Sheran, DFL-Mankato, which placed e-cigarettes under the Clean Indoor Air Act, banning their use in all public places. A House version narrowed the ban to state buildings and public schools. The bill’s House author, Rep. Laurie Halverson, DFL-Eagan, removed the Clean Indoor Air Act provision in hopes of garnering enough votes to pass the bill.

In the past year, 80 percent of Minnesota’s 200 e-cigarette retailers have set up shop in kiosks and brick-and-mortar stores, garnering gratitude from users who say the devices are a safe alternative for those trying to quit smoking. But the devices, which can contain nicotine laced with various flavors that emit a vapor rather than smoke, concern some who say little is known about what chemicals secondhand vapors contain, and whether they’re harmful. However, opponents of an indoor use ban say there’s no proof that the vapor emitted from the products is harmful or dangerous.

Despite earlier reservations about a ban, Gov. Mark Dayton said he intends to sign the bill.

Article about third-hand nicotine from e-cigarette exposure wins award

by Stone Hearth News

An exploration of third hand nicotine exposure from e-cigarettes was given the top Addiction Science Award at the 2014 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF)—the world’s largest science competition for high school students. The awards are coordinated by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, and Friends of NIDA, a coalition that supports NIDA’s mission. The Intel ISEF Addiction Science Awards were presented at a ceremony Thursday night at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

First place distinction was awarded to Lily Wei Lee, a high school senior at Stuyvesant High School in New York City for her project, Assessment of Third Hand Exposure to Nicotine from Electronic Cigarettes. The 18 year-old wondered whether e-cigarette use could pose a risk of third hand exposure, where nicotine from vapors sticks to surfaces to affect non-users even if they aren’t exposed to the e-cigarette use. She took three brands of e-cigarettes and filled them with varying nicotine concentrations. Using a syringe to ensure consistent puffs, e-cigarettes were vaped, after which nicotine concentrations were measured from surrounding surfaces – a glass window, vinyl walls, tiled floor, metal, and wood. Lee found significant increases in the amount of nicotine on all five surfaces; the floor and window had the greatest nicotine levels. The amount of residual nicotine depended on the particular brand used. Lee hopes to next explore whether e-cigarette usage is also related to increased third hand exposure to cancer-causing agents.

“This bright, young scientist showed that non-users can be exposed to nicotine residue from just one e-cigarette, even if the e-cigarette usage occurred some time ago,” said NIDA Director Nora D. Volkow, M.D. “Chronic e-cigarette use would be expected to produce even higher levels of third hand nicotine exposure, and it’s unclear how such exposure could impact the health of close family members, friends, and coworkers who are regularly exposed to these environments.”

The second place distinction went to Aakash Jain, a high school senior at Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix. His project, Computational Analysis of the GABA(A) Receptor, used computational and statistical techniques to provide insight into the three-dimensional structure of the GABAA receptor – which is believed to be involved in various disease conditions such as depression, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease, and addiction. After developing his model, Jain then screened approximately 2,500 drugs to determine if their structure would be a tight fit for the GABAA receptor. Through this process, Jain was able to identify several compounds that deserved further research into their possible clinical applications.

Winning third place distinction were two high school juniors, Alexandra Ulmer and Sarayu Caulfield from Oregon Episcopal School in Portland. Their project, Capacity Limits of Working Memory: The Impact of Multitasking on Cognitive Control and Emotion Recognition in the Adolescent Mind, explored whether experience with multitasking affected behaviors controlled by the prefrontal cortex, an area involved in self-control that is negatively impacted by drug use. They found that experienced multitaskers were better at multitasking, switching priorities, and filtering out distracting, irrelevant tasks. However, they were less able to focus on a single task, possibly because they are anticipating new information. These results may be especially relevant to today’s young, who are exposed to more streams of electronic information compared to previous generations.

Judges for this year’s Addiction Science Award included NIDA-funded researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles: Keith Heinzerling, M.D., Mitchell Wong, M.D., Ph.D., and Bridget Freisthler, Ph.D.; and NIDA’s Sheri Grabus, Ph.D.

The Friends of NIDA provides funding for the awards as part of its ongoing support of research into the causes, consequences, prevention, and treatment of drug abuse and addiction.

“These incredibly gifted, young students demonstrated innovation well beyond their years,” said William Dewey, Ph.D., president and chair of the Executive Committee, Friends of NIDA, as well as the Louis S. and Ruth S. Harris Professor and chair, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond. “From looking at the effects of new technologies on health and cognition to computerized receptor modeling, this year’s winners covered a wide range of topics. We hope this award will encourage them to pursue a career in addiction science.”

This year, about 1,700 students from 70 countries, regions and territories participated in the Intel ISEF competition, coordinated by the Society for Science and the Public. The nonprofit organization partners with Intel—along with dozens of other corporate, academic, government and science-focused sponsors—to provide support and awards each year. Addiction Science Winners receive cash awards provided by Friends of NIDA, with a $2,500 scholarship for the first-place honoree. NIDA has developed a special section on its website, which includes other resources on addiction science, to highlight the winning projects and to help science fair entrants understand the criteria for the awards: The NIDA Science Fair Award for Addiction Science.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse is a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIDA supports most of the world’s research on the health aspects of drug abuse and addiction. The Institute carries out a large variety of programs to inform policy and improve practice. Fact sheets on the health effects of drugs of abuse and information on NIDA research and other activities can be found on the NIDA home page at www.drugabuse.gov, which is now compatible with your smartphone, iPad or tablet. To order publications in English or Spanish, call NIDA’s DrugPubs research dissemination center at 1-877-NIDA-NIH or 240-645-0228 (TDD) or fax or email requests to 240-645-0227 or drugpubs@nida.nih.gov. Online ordering is available at http://drugpubs.drugabuse.gov. NIDA’s media guide can be found at http://drugabuse.gov/mediaguide, and its new easy-to-read website can be found at www.easyread.drugabuse.gov.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

Source: NIH

http://www.stonehearthnewsletters.com/article-third-hand-nicotine-e-cigarette-exposure-wins-award/e-cigarettes/#sthash.3UrgkQCT.FhfO88XR.dpuf

Report slams child labor in tobacco fields

By Mariano Castillo, CNN

(CNN) — Children can’t light up, but there are some who suffer the effects of nicotine exposure as they labor in U.S. tobacco fields.

There is not an exact figure for how many children work in America’s tobacco fields, but Human Rights Watch interviewed nearly 150 for a new report on the dangers these workers face.

“I would barely eat anything because I wouldn’t get hungry,” one child worker, Elena G., 13, told the human rights group. “Sometimes I felt like I needed to throw up. … I felt like I was going to faint. I would stop and just hold myself up with the tobacco plant.”

Nearly 75% of the children interviewed reported similar symptoms — nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, headaches, dizziness, irritation and difficulty breathing. These are symptoms of acute nicotine poisoning, Human Rights Watch said.

And nicotine is not the only danger.

Exposure to pesticides from adjacent fields and accidents with sharp tools are also common, the report said.

“Once they sprayed where we were working. We were cutting the flower and the spray was right next to us in the part of the fields we had just finished working in. I couldn’t breathe,” Jocelyn R., 17, told HRW. “I started sneezing a lot. The chemicals would come over to us.”

Altria, one of the biggest cigarette makers, does not employ its own farmers but maintains strict standards on the contractors it buys tobacco from, company spokesman Jeff Caldwell said.

His company’s view is not that the HRW report is critical of the tobacco industry, but that it asks for cooperation with various interests to protect the safety of workers, especially minors, he said.

“Our tobacco companies do not condone the unlawful employment or exploitation of farm workers, especially those under the age of 18,” Caldwell said.

Altria requires that its growers follow certain guidelines that specifically include best practices for labor management when it comes to harvesting tobacco. Issues such as avoiding acute nicotine poisoning and heat stress are addressed in the guidelines, he said.

U.S. tobacco companies intend to work together to further discuss the topics in the report, he said.

The study focused on four tobacco-growing states: North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia.

Children can legally work in the tobacco fields, and some as young as 11 and 12 years old do. These children primarily work during the summer to help support their families. The majority of them were Hispanic children of immigrants who lived in nearby towns, the report said.

“As the school year ends, children are heading into the tobacco fields, where they can’t avoid being exposed to dangerous nicotine, without smoking a single cigarette,” Margaret Wurth, a co-author of the report, said in a news release. “It’s no surprise the children exposed to poisons in the tobacco fields are getting sick.”

Many of the children the group spoke with reported working long hours without overtime pay or enough breaks, HRW said.

One of the recommendations of the report is that no one under 18 be allowed to work in tobacco fields, due to the risks that such exposure can bring.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/14/us/hrw-children-tobacco-workers-report/

The Weird Link Between E-Cigarettes and Mental Health Disorders

Dan Kedmey, TIME

A new study finds elevated rates of depression, anxiety and other mental disorders among users of e-cigarettes

A new study has found that people suffering from depression, anxiety and other mental disorders are more than twice as likely to spark up an e-cigarette and three times as likely to “vape” regularly than those without a history of mental issues.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego drew their findings from an extensive survey of American smoking habits. Among 10,041 respondents, 14.8% of individuals suffering from mental health disorders said they had tried an e-cigarette, compared with 6.6% of individuals who had no self-reported history of mental disorders.

The e-smokers’ elevated rates of mental disorders reflected the elevated rates of mental illness among smokers in general. The authors note that by some estimates, people suffering from mental disorders buy upwards of 50 percent of cigarettes sold in the U.S. annually.

Many respondents said they switched to e-cigarettes as a gateway to quitting. The FDA has not yet approved e-cigarettes as a quitting aide.

“People with mental health conditions have largely been forgotten in the war on smoking,” study author Sharon Cummins said in a university press release. “But because they are high consumers of cigarettes, they have the most to gain or lose from the e-cigarette phenomenon.”

The study will run in the May 13 issue of Tobacco Control.

http://time.com/97414/the-weird-link-between-e-cigarettes-and-mental-health-disorders/

Grand Forks targets e-cigs: New ordinance gets early approval from city committee

By Charly Haley, Grand Forks Herald
Electronic cigarettes may soon be more regulated in Grand Forks if a recommendation for a new city ordinance is approved by City Council next week.
An ordinance prohibiting possession of e-cigarettes by minors and prohibiting vending machines that sell e-cigarettes was proposed to the City Council Service/Safety Committee by council member Bret WeberTuesday. The committee voted unanimously to support the ordinance, which will go to the full City Council next week for final approval.
E-cigarettes are not technically a “tobacco product,” which is why they aren’t regulated under existing city ordinances, Weber said.
But they are a vehicle for nicotine in a vapor form, which is still damaging to health, he said.
According to Food and Drug Administration reports, e-cigarettes can increase nicotine addiction and may lead people to try regular cigarettes, which are known to cause disease.
The proposed Grand Forks ordinance states that e-cigarettes will have the same regulations as other tobacco products.
Haley Thorson, a Grand Forks Public Health nurse, said there are only two e-cigarette shops that she knows of in Grand Forks: SnG Vapor and Vapor Stars. Some convenience stores also sell simple e-cigarettes, she said.
A big part of the problem, Weber said, is that e-cigarettes are often marketed toward youths. “There are ‘Hello Kitty,’ e-cigarettes,” he said.
Members of the Red River High School Student Council and the Grand Forks City Youth Commission attended the Service/Safety Committee meeting to support Weber’s proposal of the ordinance.
E-cigarette use among youth in North Dakota has almost tripled from 2011 to 2013, according to a report provided by the Grand Forks Public Health Department. The trend is growing nationally as well, according to the report.
In Minnesota, it is illegal by state law for minors to buy e-cigarettes, Weber said. At least eight communities in North Dakota have passed or are currently discussing ordinances that regulate sales of e-cigarettes to minors, according to the Public Health report.
http://www.grandforksherald.com/content/grand-forks-targets-e-cigs-new-ordinance-gets-early-approval-city-committee

Health Insurance Surcharge Has Vapers Fuming

By  via GOOD MORNING AMERICA

Under the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies can charge smokers and other tobacco users up to 50 percent more than non-smokers for a health insurance policy. But where do e-smokers fit in?

E-cigarettes are battery-operated nicotine inhalers that consist of a rechargeable lithium battery, a cartridge called a cartomizer and an LED that lights up during each puff. Although they contain no tobacco, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans on regulating them like cigarettes and cigars. This, it turns out, is complicating things for insurance companies.

While the ACA allows insurance companies to charge higher premiums to smokers and other tobacco users, the definition of a “smoker” is unclear under the law.

One way insurance companies could deal with e-cigarettes is to lump them in with tobacco products – a move that would subject so-called vapers to the same higher premiums as cigarette smokers. The companies could also swing the other way and decide to cover the cost of e-cigarettes as a means to help people quit smoking, despite a lack of evidence that the devices work as well as a patch. Insurers could also choose to ignore e-cigs altogether.

”The Affordable Care Act does not specify e-cigarette use for purposes of cessation coverage or tobacco surcharge application,” the American Cancer Society said in a statement to ABC News. “The lack of clarity may allow health plans to try to add the surcharge for e-cigarettes.”

If and when the FDA regulation of e-cigarettes goes into effect, insurance companies could change any of their current policies to reflect the agency’s direction. In the meantime, most companies claim they have too little experience with the devices to have a position, according to an informal poll by the National Association of Health Underwriters.

Carrie McLean, director of customer care for the online health insurance brokerage eHealth, said some insurers are telling their agents to add a smoking surcharge for those who vape.

“If a consumer indicates they use e-cigarettes, the carriers are expecting them to be uprated just as if they are a smoker,” she said, noting that consumers aren’t actually asked about the type of tobacco products they use during the health insurance application process – just whether they use them at all.

America’s Health Insurance Plans, an association which represents most of the country’s large health insurance companies, recommends that agents ask about regular tobacco use in the last six months and the most recent use. However, if a consumer were to ask for clarification about whether or not e-cigarettes count as tobacco use, then an agent is obliged to add the surcharge, McLean said.

“The problem arises because most people fill out their applications online and, as of now, most applications don’t ask specifically about e-cigarettes,” McLean said. “Consumers are left to decide on their own whether or not they consider themselves a tobacco user.”

It’s an important question to settle, as the price differential can be significant.

For example, a plan for a 40-year-old non-smoker with a $35,000 income that costs $3,857 a year minus a $532 tax credit would rise to $5,254 for someone labeled a smoker, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s exchange subsidy calculator. In some cases, the rate increase might even be larger than the 50 percent increase the ACA allows because government tax credits only apply to the base premium and not the tobacco surcharge.

Not surprisingly, e-cigarette advocates are fired up about vaping being likened to smoking by insurance companies. Cynthia Cabrera, executive director of the e-cigarette industry organization Smoke Free Alternatives Trade Association, said that e-cigarettes and other vaping products are a healthier lifestyle choice than combustible tobacco cigarettes, and argued that it seems inconsistent to apply the same higher insurance rates to vapers.

“The SFATA does not agree with any policy that positions users of electronic cigarettes and other vapor products in the same category as smokers,” she said. “These products do not emit smoke and do not contain tobacco, tar or any of the many carcinogens known to exist in combustible cigarettes.”

But the phenomenon of vaping is so new that experts say there’s insufficient science to determine whether e-cigarettes really are a healthier alternative to traditional tobacco products.

Dr. Ravi Ram, the chief medical officer for Blue Shield of Northeastern New York, said that although New York has chosen to eliminate rate increases for e-smokers, he suspects most plans would place e-cigarettes on par with cigarettes in terms of their health risk.

“Until you have some long term data and some actuarial differences to health outcomes such as lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease and other conditions which are significantly impacted by smoking, and likely to be impacted by e-cigarettes as well, you have to rate them the same,” he said.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/health-insurance-surcharge-vapers-fuming/story?id=23628060

 

House panel moves to block Navy proposal to ban tobacco sales on bases, ships

FoxNews.com
House lawmakers approved a measure this week that would protect tobacco sales on military bases and ships and effectively block the Navy’s plans to drop the products in a bid to get servicemembers to stop smoking.
The House Armed Services Committee added language to a fiscal 2015 defense authorization bill that bans defense officials from enacting “any new policy that would limit, restrict, or ban the sale of any legal consumer product category” on military installations, the Navy Times reported.
The Pentagon said last month that no final decision has been made about banning sales to troops, but Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he asked for a review to address the “astounding” health care costs associated with tobacco-related illness.
A March 14 Defense Department memo issued guidance to all service chiefs:
“Although we stopped distributing cigarettes to our Service members as part of their rations, we continue to permit, if not encourage, tobacco use. The prominence of tobacco products in retail outlets and permission for smoking breaks while on duty sustain the perception that we are not serious about reducing the use of tobacco.”
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who sponsored the amendment prohibiting the Navy’s plans, said the move amounts to a hand-holding of troops who are responsible adults and should be able to make their own life choices, the Navy Times reported.
“Just because you joined the service doesn’t mean you can’t live comfortably,” said Hunter, a Marine veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan. “If your goal is to make the military healthy, let’s outlaw war. That’s as unhealthy as you can get.”
The measure passed by a 53-9 vote on Wednesday, with some Democrats objecting to limits on the military’s efforts to promote health and fitness. In order for the regulation to become law, the  Senate would have to adopt the House measure.
Rep. Susan Davis, D-Calif., objected to the proposal, arguing that promoting good health is just as important as military readiness, The Washington Times reported.
“This is not telling people that they can’t use tobacco, clearly people can go across the street almost wherever they are and purchase that,” Davis said. “But we are sending a kind of double message, I think, by not saying that we recognize tobacco can cause damage, not only to a sailor, but also to their family, second hand smoke we know is a concern.”
The Navy Times reported that measure covers any product legal in the U.S. as of Jan. 1, including alcohol and sugary drinks. The measure does not cover marijuana.
Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/05/09/house-panel-moves-to-block-navy-proposal-to-ban-tobacco-sales-on-bases-ships/