Smokers bypass new tax increase by rolling own cigarettes

Article by:  PAUL LEVY , Star Tribune
Minnesota smokers have found a way to beat the state’s new cigarette tax. They’re rolling their own.
Tobacco sales have slumped since the nation’s sixth-highest cigarette tax raised the price of a pack of cigarettes in Minnesota by $1.60 in July. But Twin Cities tobacco-shop owners say many customers are buying tobacco by the pouch — purchasing enough to roll at least two cartons’ worth of cigarettes for a fraction of the price.
The pouch tobacco is intended for cigarette rolling but is taxed differently because its wider cut classifies it as pipe tobacco, said Rich Lewis, owner of Lewis Pipe and Tobacco in downtown Minneapolis. A 1-pound pouch of rolling tobacco costs $23. Two cartons of cigarettes (20 packs) cost nearly $160, with the state excise tax now at $2.83 per pack.
“Most of my people are switching to roll your own,” said Yamen Haidari, general manager of Discount Tobacco in Fridley. “People tell me they’re getting two-and-a-half cartons’ worth of cigarettes for a little more than $20.”
A customer at the Tobacco Town shop in Anoka said she usually buys cigarettes by the carton. This week, she bought a pound of loose tobacco and two packs of cigarettes.
At Infinity Smokes in downtown Minneapolis, owner Tariq Hamouda said that he has seen an increase in loose tobacco sales and that “in neighborhoods and in the suburbs, they’re selling a lot more tobacco by the pound since the price of a pack went up to $8.”
The opening stems from a 2009 federal tax increase on cigarettes and cigarette tobacco that did not apply to pipe tobacco. “Any type of loose-leaf tobacco that was considered for cigarettes was relabeled as pipe tobacco, because it would not be covered under the federal increase,” said Mike Sheldon, a spokesman for Clearway Minnesota, an independent nonprofit that attempts to reduce tobacco use and secondhand smoke through research and collaboration. “There are taxes on other tobacco products, besides cigarettes, but they’re different.”
In Minnesota, the tax on loose tobacco is substantial — 95 percent of the wholesale price — but that still is generally less expensive than traditional cigarettes.
The Minnesota Department of Revenue has yet to determine whether the new taxes have sparked an increase in loose-tobacco sales, said department spokesman Ryan Brown. But Gary Foss, a clerk at Tobacco Outlet Depot in Minneapolis, says there’s no question. “We’re selling more pouches and e-cigarettes. It’s gotten very competitive.”
Tobacco sales, in general, were down last month in Minnesota. Lewis says his sales fell 75 percent when the tax initially took effect. Sales have rallied since, but not to the point they were before the tax increase, Lewis and other local store owners said.
It is too soon to say what the ultimate effect of the new cigarette tax will be on smoking in Minnesota, according to the Minnesota Management and Budget Department, which monitors the taxes collected on tobacco.
Dips in cigarette-related revenue are expected the first few months after a tax, said department spokesman John Pollard. August tobacco tax revenue was lower than expected, Pollard said.
Health-related, or perhaps cost-related, concerns over tobacco seemed to grow as sales dropped. The number of calls to Clearway Minnesota’s quit line increased 256 percent in the first week of July (compared to the same week in 2012). Online inquiries into quitting jumped 289 percent that week, Sheldon said.
There is also concern over the growing popularity of e-cigarettes. A recent survey showed one in five young people have used e-cigarettes the past 30 days, Sheldon said.
Some smokers are getting cigarettes out of state. Lewis says a customer in his 70s told him his sister ships him cartons of cigarettes from Missouri, where the excise tax is only 17 cents per pack, compared to Minnesota’s $2.83.
The only states with higher cigarette excise taxes than Minnesota are New York (the nation’s highest, at $4.35), Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Hawaii. Washington, D.C., has an excise tax of $2.86 per pack. In New York City, which has additional cigarette taxes, a pack of Marlboro Red cigarettes costs $14.50.
States surrounding Minnesota all have lower cigarette excise taxes, but Twin Cities smokers are not likely to flock to Wisconsin, where the cost is just 31 cents less per pack.
The most dramatic difference is in North Dakota, where the excise tax per pack is only 44 cents, or $2.39 less than in Minnesota.
“Why would anyone ever buy cigarettes in Moorhead?” Lewis asked.
http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/223778101.html?page=1&c=y

DoD starts new effort to get troops, employees thinking healthy

By Patricia Kime
Staff Writer
Summertime refused to cede to fall Thursday in Falls Church, Va., as temperatures soared to 90 degrees and the Pentagon’s top doctor led a shorts-clad group on a fast-paced 1-mile run at the future Defense Health Agency headquarters.
The sweaty PT session marked the kickoff of the facility’s participation in the Defense Department’s “Healthy Base Initiative,” a nutrition and wellness program being field-tested at 14 military bases and offices nationwide.
The $6 million demonstration project is designed to assess the health of each facility’s population and improve it through healthy nutrition, physical activity and tobacco reduction.
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Dr. Jonathan Woodson said the Healthy Base Initiative will determine what health and fitness programs actually work and should be implemented DoD-wide.
“Society at large is dealing with the issue of health, nutrition and weight gain, and we need to take this on full force, having a good strategy to do better,” Woodson said.
The Defense Department spends $3.2 billion on obesity-related disease treatment and tobacco-related illnesses and treatment each year, said Charles Milam, principal director for military community and family policy.
A 2011 survey of active-duty members indicated that a quarter of troops smoked, while roughly 13 percent were classified as obese and 51 percent were considered overweight.
The numbers are even worse for military retirees: More than 40 percent of the youngest retirees, ages 40 to 49, are obese, according to DoD data.
Under the Healthy Base Initiative, participating facilities were given a baseline assessment of certain health metrics, including aggregate weight, tobacco use and fitness program participation.
Individual bases are left to determine how they will improve their numbers and the facilities will be reassessed after a year, said Capt. Kim Elenberg, director for medical readiness and training for the U.S. Public Health Service.
At Defense Health Headquarters, changes have included hosting a farmer’s market on Thursdays, banning smoking from the 44-acre campus, mapping out indoor walking trails in the building and an outdoor running path.
Officials acknowledge they face an uphill battle in changing habits, even on a day set aside to gin up enthusiasm for the program.
At the kickoff, fewer than 10 percent of the 3,000 employees at the Defense Health Headquarters showed up for the festivities. The most popular kiosks at the farmer’s market include the bread tent and the home-baked goods. Some employees dropped out of the run/walk.
To be fair, it was hot.
“It’s going to to take a while, but I do think it’s going to work,” said Navy Capt. Tonya Hall, vice chief of staff for the Bureau of Medicine, who participated in the festivities despite being in full uniform.
“Initiatives like this really go a long way to bringing this to people’s minds, because that’s half the battle, making people think about healthy habits,” she said.
Personnel at participating bases could see new programs, such as weight loss groups and fitness classes, revamped chow hall menus and new vending machine choices. Additional plans include an online assessment tool for personnel, family members and retirees to measure their overall health and map out plans for improvement.
What participating bases won’t see is the removal of base fast-food restaurants or snack foods from commissary shelves, Elenberg said.
“That’s not our goal. What we want to do is increase health literacy and offer healthy choices. If we can do that, if we can have farmer’s markets, teach parents how to pack a healthy lunch, encourage people to kick their tobacco habits, we can succeed,” she said.
The participating bases and facilities are: Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Sill, Okla.; Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii; Submarine Base New London Conn.; Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho; Yokota Air Base, Japan; Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif.; Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va.; Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Mass.; March Air Reserve Base, Calif.; Fort Meade, Md.; Camp Dodge, Iowa; and the Defense Logistics Agency, Fort Belvoir, Va.
http://www.navytimes.com/article/20130913/NEWS/309130026/DoD-starts-new-effort-get-troops-employees-thinking-healthy

Panel sides with ND in tobacco money dispute

By: JAMES MacPHERSON , The Associated Press
BISMARCK — An arbitration panel has sided with North Dakota in a dispute over payments from a 1998 multistate settlement with tobacco companies, ending a decade-long legal fight, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said Thursday.
Tobacco companies had withheld $2.6 million from North Dakota’s 2003 annual payment, saying the state did not “diligently enforce” provisions of the 1998 deal. The settlement requires states to collect escrow payments on cigarette sales by tobacco companies that did not join the agreement.
The three-member arbitration panel ruled Wednesday that North Dakota enforced the provision as required.
Thirty other states have been involved in similar disputes. Stenehjem said 16 have settled, eight have received favorable arbitration decisions and six unfavorable decisions.
The state Supreme Court in 2007 ruled that the dispute should be handled by an arbitration panel, not the courts. Stenehjem said attorneys from his office have been working on the case for 10 years.
“This is a big victory for us,” Stenehjem said. “It’s been a very time-consuming process.”
The 1998 settlement resolved state legal claims over tobacco marketing and the cost of treating tobacco-related health problems. The tobacco companies that took part agreed to pay more than $200 billion to the states over 25 years.
North Dakota has received nearly $339 million in payments since 1999, Stenehjem said. North Dakota divides the money among funds that benefit education, water projects and state and local health initiatives.
The panel’s decision means North Dakota’s 2003 payment of $23 million is no longer in question, though tobacco companies can still launch challenges for other years, Stenehjem said.
“With the solid victory we received from the panel, it’s far less likely for tobacco companies to claim that we weren’t diligently enforcing provisions of the agreement for other years,” Stenehjem said.
North Dakota’s arbitration trial was held in Chicago last October. The decision by the panel, comprised of retired federal judges, cannot be appealed.
Stenehjem said he expects the $2.6 million withheld by tobacco companies to be sent to North Dakota immediately.
“I’m hoping the check is already in the mail,” Stenehjem said.
http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/event/article/id/71999/group/News/

Is Second-hand Smoke Dangerous to Pets?

Author: Written by: Ontario SPCA
With all the research that’s been done on the effects of second-hand smoke on people, we all know what dangerous and potentially deadly effects could come from inhaling second-hand smoke. But did you know that second-hand smoke can be deadly even to pets?
Studies involving dogs have shown that dogs who were exposed to large amounts of second-hand smoke have showed significant changes in their lung tissue over time. The changes range from fibrosis, or scarring of the lung tissue, to precancerous and even cancerous lesions.
Studies involving cats have shown that second-hand smoke may double their risk of lymphoma development.
If your cat or dog suffers from respiratory diseases such as asthma or bronchitis, quitting smoking, or not smoking around your pets, may significantly improve their symptoms.
If you’re not ready to kick the habit just yet, it’s best to smoke when you’re not around your pets and to make sure you wash your hands before handling them.
More findings from these studies can be found on Modern Dog Magazine’s website.
Concerned that your cat or dog may be suffering from a tobacco-related issue?  Schedule an appointment with your veterinarian immediately.
http://www.northumberlandview.ca/index.php?module=news&type=user&func=display&sid=24207#.UjcWDGRUM0N
 

City Council votes to restrict e-cigarette use in Duluth

By: Peter Passi, Associated Press
New restrictions soon will confront users of electronic cigarettes in Duluth.
A series of ordinances passed Monday night by the Duluth City Council will subject people using e-cigarettes to the same restrictions faced by smokers puffing on conventional cigarettes. The ordinances also will prevent hookah bars from doing business in the city.
But several councilors expressed misgivings about different aspects of the new rules.
Councilor Sharla Gardner supported many of the restrictions but not one that would prevent patrons of smoke shops from testing out e-cigarettes and sampling different flavored solutions on premises.
“I’m really not OK with banning something or demonizing it when everyone agrees all the science isn’t in on this,” Gardner said.
She also noted that e-cigarettes have been a helpful tool in helping wean some people off yet more dangerous conventional cigarettes.
“I certainly don’t want to be harming people’s efforts to quit,” she said.
But Councilor Jennifer Julsrud, who introduced the ordinances, said they were necessary.
“I wrote these ordinances and I pushed for them because I want to protect kids, and I believe in supporting clean air,” she said.
Councilor Jay Fosle, who opposed all the new ordinances, said the rules were unnecessary, as it’s already against the law to sell e-cigarettes to minors.
He said individual businesses and properties already have the right to ban the use of e-cigarettes if they wish and said the council should be more concerned with the use of other products.
“What we should really be concerned about is the use of heroin and ecstasy,” he said.
Fosle said that by taking such a restrictive stance toward e-cigarettes, the city would push businesses into neighboring communities.
“We’re going against businesses that would bring more money onto our tax rolls,” he said.
Fosle contended it was wrong to lump e-cigarettes in with tobacco.
But Duluth resident Sharon Lund testified that e-cigarettes have not been shown to be harmless. She said the devices have been found to emit about 20 percent of the pollutants that regular cigarettes do, but she could not support introducing them into spaces where clean air has become the norm.
“Do we really want to take a step backwards and expose people to more carcinogens and toxic chemicals again?” she asked.
Lund said she also was sickened by e-cigarette manufacturers’ attempts to appeal to young people with flavored solutions, such as bubble gum or cookies and cream.
Councilor Jim Stauber said that for him watching out for the public welfare, particular for young people, takes top priority.
“I generally don’t like government intruding on people’s lives, but I think this is the right thing to do,” he said.
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/277452/

Education secretary pushes for higher cigarette tax to extend early childhood education to another 1.1 million kids

By Milan Simonich, Texas-New Mexico Newspapers
SANTA FE — U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan rode a brightly painted bus into New Mexico on Monday, then gave a gloomy overview of state schools.
New Mexico begins each school year with about 30,000 students in ninth grade. But only about 20,000 of them graduate from high school in four years, Duncan said during a town hall meeting.
He said the problems of failing students and dropouts begin long before high school. That is why the Obama administration wants to spend more than $75 billion to expand prekindergarten education, Duncan told a room jammed with more than 150 supporters of the idea.
Under President Obama’s plan, much of the money to expand early childhood education would come from a federal tax increase of 94 cents a pack on cigarettes. States that wanted to tap into the national account would voluntarily join the program and then contribute a portion of the cost for expanding early childhood education.
In New Mexico, about 17,000 kids are without access to pre-kindergarten programs. Including them would be the key building block for success in school at every level, Duncan said.
“This is the best investment we could make in our babies,” he said.
Duncan called this “an uphill battle so far,” but said it should have bipartisan support.
He said the initiative would double the number of kids in pre-kindergarten programs nationally, from 1.1 million to 2.2 million.
The pre-kindergarten education proposal is the main reason that Duncan and his staff are on their back-to-school bus tour of New Mexico, El Paso, Arizona and Southern California. Their campaign for more early childhood education funding is called Strong Start, Bright Future.
Rick Geraci, New Mexico Military Institute commandant of cadets, joined Duncan in publicly backing the initiative.
Geraci said improving early childhood education would improve national security. As it stands, he said, many young people who want to join a branch of the military are denied because they are poorly educated.
He said extra emphasis on early childhood education would keep more kids out of jail and enable them to serve their country in the military.
Milan Simonich, Santa Fe Bureau chief of Texas-New Mexico Newspapers, can be reached at 505-820-6898.

Tobacco Companies Target Youth, Mislead Public About Smokeless Products In Order To Maintain Profits

By 
British American Tobacco (BAT), the maker of Lucky Strike, Dunhill, and Pall Mall cigarettes, has recently spent some time promoting its smokeless tobacco brands, saying that snus, a moist tobacco that’s typically placed under the upper lip, is “at least 90 percent less harmful than smoking cigarettes.” But new research, meant to serve as information for tobacco policy in the European Union (EU), finds that BAT and other tobacco companies aren’t really concerned about the public’s health and, rather, are more concerned about maintaining profits should cigarette sales decline.
Snus, one of the many forms of smokeless tobacco, is currently banned in every country in the EU except for Sweden. Researchers with the UK Center for Tobacco Control Studies were tasked with finding information regarding transnational tobacco companies’ interests in smokeless tobacco from the 1970s to the present, to better inform policymakers in their decision, according to a statement.

It’s All For The Profits

By comparing the tobacco industry’s internal documents to its campaigns to help reduce public harm with smokeless tobacco, the researchers found that “there is clear evidence that [British American Tobacco’s] early interest in introducing [smokeless tobacco] in Europe was based on the potential for creating an alternative form of tobacco use in light of declining cigarette sales and social restrictions on smoking, with young people a key target,” they wrote.
BAT’s internal documents note cigarettes’ declining popularity, saying, “We have no wish to aid or hasten any decline in cigarette smoking. Deeper involvement in smokeless is strategically defensible. There are fewer people in sophisticated markets starting to smoke. There are increasing numbers of people giving up. There are increasing restrictions on smoking, particularly in public, whether by law or by society.”
An estimated 10 million people currently smoke cigarettes in the UK, and 29 percent ofall citizens of the EU smoke. Numerous campaigns to help people quit — 31 percent of EU smokers have tried to quit in the last year — have been implemented, even including an iPhone app that analyzes smoking habits and provides daily, customized advice. With such campaigns, smoking rates have gone down across the continent.
Although there may be lower levels of the carcinogenic tobacco-specific nitrosamines in smokeless tobacco, the National Cancer Institute says that there are still at least 28 chemicals that have been found to cause cancer. Smokeless tobacco has been found to cause oral, esophageal, and pancreatic cancers.

Smokeless Tobacco, Cigarettes, and the Youth

BAT and other tobacco companies specifically target young people in their smokeless tobacco campaigns, the authors said. Portioning snus made it easier to use for young people, and the companies chose which markets to test throughout Europe based on youth and student populations. When certain brands of snus were launched in the UK, “students were both the target and the means of promotion.”
“The fact that smokeless tobacco investments in Europe coincided with the implementation of smoke-free policies, combined with evidence of the industry’s promotion of dual cigarette and snus use in the U.S., add weight to the concern that transnational tobacco companies may hope to exploit snus as a way to reduce the impact of regulations aimed at reducing smoking rates,” the authors wrote. Last month, a study from the Harvard School of Public Health found that rather than replacing cigarettes with smokeless tobacco, one in 20 middle and high school students were using both.
The authors concluded that the “Swedish experience” with snus could not be generalized to other countries in which snus is not as popular. They say that evidence pointed directly to the industry’s interest in snus “because it could be used in smoke-free environments and could be promoted to young, non-tobacco users to create a new form of tobacco use. This last finding lends support to concerns that smokeless tobacco may lead to, rather than from, smoking.”
Source: Peeters S, Gilmore A. Transnational Tobacco Company Interests in Smokeless Tobacco in Europe: Analysis of Internal Industry Documents and Contemporary Industry Materials. PLOS Medicine. 2013.

Graphic anti-smoking ads helped 100,000 kick the habit for good, CDC says

Maggie Fox,  NBC News
A graphic, deliberately shocking, anti-tobacco campaign starring former smokers — including a woman who lost her voice box to throat cancer — helped 100,00 Americans kick the habit permanently, government researchers say.
And an estimated 1.6 million people at least tried to quit smoking after seeing the first national mass ­media anti-smoking initiative to be funded by the U.S. government, according to researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The series of ads, called “Tips,” featured images of an 18-year-old wearing an oxygen mask in the hospital after suffering an asthma attack caused by secondhand smoke; a 57-year-old Army veteran with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who tearfully declares “I’m running out of time,”; and a heart attack victim showing a gruesome scar from his surgery.
One of the most striking ads featured Terrie Hall, a 52-year-old North Carolina woman who suffered throat cancer caused by smoking. “The only voice my grandson has ever heard is this one,” the well-groomed blonde woman croaks in one video.
“People would come up to her in the grocery store or drug store in other towns and ask ‘if you are the woman on the ad — you inspired me to quit smoking – thank you so much’,” said Dr. Tim McAfee, director of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, who directed the study.
The 2012 three-month campaign reached nearly 80 percent of US smokers, the CDC team says in a report published Monday in the Lancet medical journal.
“The Tips campaign seems to have resulted in millions of non-­smokers talking to smokers about quitting and getting help,” the CDC researchers wrote.
To figure this out, the CDC team sent questionnaires to 3,051 smokers and 2,220 non-smokers completed baseline and follow-up assessments. They found that 78 percent of the smokers and 74 percent of the non-smokers recalled having seen at least one Tips advertisement on television during the three-month campaign.
Before the campaign started, 31 percent of smokers said they had tried to quit for at least one day in the previous three months. This went up to nearly 35 percent after the campaign. And 13 percent said they succeeded.
The differences may look small percentage wise, but when multiplied over the whole U.S. population, they added up. Twenty percent of U.S. adults smoke.
“We found over a million and half smokers made quit attempts because of the campaign,” McAfee told NBC News. “This study shows that we save a year of life for less than $200. That makes it one of the most cost-effective prevention efforts,” McAfee added.
The CDC says half of all smokers try to quit every year, but only 5 percent succeed. Drugs, acupuncture, counseling and nicotine replacement therapies are all available to help, but nothing works perfectly. Over the weekend, researchers reported that e-cigarettes work about as well as nicotine patches to help people quit.
“This is exciting news. Quitting can be hard and I congratulate and celebrate with former smokers – this is the most important step you can take to a longer, healthier life,” said Director Dr. Tom Frieden. “I encourage anyone who tried to quit to keep trying – it may take several attempts to succeed.’’
The CDC says its $54 million campaign, paid for out of the 2010 health reform law, counters the $8 billion the tobacco industry spends on advertising and promotions.
“Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death worldwide, causing nearly 5 million deaths annually,” the CDC team wrote. “For individuals, smoking shortens life expectancy by more than 10 years, whereas adults who quit before age 45 years regain almost a decade in life expectancy.”
CDC says cigarettes kill 440,000 Americans a year, and tobacco use costs $96 billion in direct medical costs and $97 billion in lost productivity.
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/graphic-anti-smoking-ads-helped-100-000-kick-habit-good-8C11111432

WSC Going Smoke Free

By Chris Williams – email
It’s a move more college’s across the country are starting to make…going smoke free.
Out of the 11 institutions in North Dakota, 10 of them are smoke free, and now Williston State College is going to make it 11.
Last but not least. On November 1st of this year, Williston State College is going to be not only smoke free, but tobacco free.
“It includes e-cigarettes, it includes chewing tobacco, any other kind of tobacco form, it is all forbidden to be on campus and being used on campus,” said Williston State College Faculty Senate Chair Kim Weismann.
WSC administrators have been busy over the last several years, adding new buildings, and getting new projects ready to go. This year, school officials were able to do some things they’ve been waiting to do. Like creating a tobacco free campus.
“All the governing bodies in campus needed to approve the policy, but we also need to make sure there’s enforcement, and signage and all of those other things we really don’t ever think about when it goes through with policy changes,” added Weismann.
One Teton says she is excited the campus is going to be tobacco free.
“We’re getting all of these new things, so we want it to keep looking new, we want to show we’re appreciative of all the things that we have,” said Student Senate President Samantha Chamberlain.
Chamberlain says a large portion of the student body are athletes, and they shouldn’t be smoking anyways.
“They need to be able to run up and down the court to win us games,” Chamberlain added.
If you’re caught smoking on campus when the policy goes into effect, you will be issued one warning, and after that you will be fined. This policy is for all buildings owned by the college.
“The apartment complex is also tobacco free, so even in your own personal apartment there’s no smoking or tobacco use,” Weismann added.
http://www.kqcd.com/story/23386262/wsc-going-smoke-free

Duluth News Tribune view: Obvious danger requires fair and responsible rules

The packaging on electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, doesn’t say much. Which actually is kind of scary. Just what’s being inhaled into the body when “vaping?” Certainly not just vapors, as suggested by the slang verb for puffing on the products. And what’s being exhaled for everyone around to breathe in and ingest?
One thing the packaging does say: e-cigarettes contain nicotine. How much? Doesn’t say, and, according to experts, it can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and from brand to brand. But does it even matter? It’s not like there’s such a thing as a safe amount of the highly addictive, cancer-causing drug nicotine.
Even scarier? E-cigarettes, as addictive, dangerous and harmful to health as they may be, are actively being marketed to kids, just the way tobacco cigarettes used to be. Remember Joe Camel and the portrayal of smoking as cool and hip and what everyone who’s anyone was doing? This time — powered by nearly $21 million in advertising in 2012, according to the New York Times — it’s kid-friendly flavors like watermelon and cookies-and-cream milkshake and the portrayal of vaping as cool and hip and what everyone who’s anyone is doing.
Unlike tobacco, however — and this may be most troubling of all — kids can buy e-cigarettes easily and legally, including online. And they are. The percentage of U.S. middle school and high school students taking drags on e-cigarettes more than doubled from 2011 to 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last week. In 2012, more than 1.78 million middle school and high school students nationwide had tried e-cigarettes, a precursor to tobacco cigarettes.
So something clearly has to be done, right, before a whole new generation embraces a filthy, unhealthy habit and sees it as just a normal part of our culture? On Monday, the Duluth City Council has an opportunity to take some sensible action.
The first of three ordinances the council owes it to the community to approve would require a license to sell e-cigarettes the same way sellers of tobacco have to be licensed. In fact, an existing tobacco license would cover e-cigarettes under the measure. A second ordinance would prohibit the use of e-cigarettes in places already designated by law as no-smoking, like inside public buildings, along the Lakewalk, at bus stops and elsewhere. And a third ordinance would close a loophole in clean indoor air laws meant to allow the sampling of tobacco in tobacco shops prior to purchase. Some are exploiting that provision to sell group-smoking experiences in lounge settings.
“The big misconception for a couple of weeks was that Duluth wants to ban e-cigarettes. That’s not it at all,” Jill Doberstein, program manager for tobacco prevention and control for the American Lung Association in Duluth, said in an interview last week with the News Tribune editorial board.
No, the idea is responsible regulation of their use, not the banning of e-cigarettes altogether.
Some users of e-cigarettes swear by their effectiveness in quitting tobacco even though the government has yet to certify them as safe and effective smoking-cessation devices the way it has nicotine patches and other products.
The safety and effectiveness for smoking cessation of e-cigarettes is still being studied and determined, and while the jury is out, adults certainly should be allowed to ignore the health risks and dangers and use e-cigarettes. They can be allowed to forget that the only safe air to breathe is clean air. It is a free country.
But allowing e-cigarettes to pollute the air of others, to be pushed on unsuspecting kids, or to be used without any rules, regulations or controls whatsoever is, well, it’s just downright scary.
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/277303/