Posts

CNN: Raise smoking age to 21 and regulate e-cigs, pediatricians urge

By Jen Christensen and Joseph Netto

(CNN) Most people who smoke started in their teens. While the number of kids trying tobacco for the first time has declined since the 1970s, there are still new smokers every year and kids’ doctors want to do something about it.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) came out with a strong new policy statement that urges policymakers to raise the minimum age people could buy nicotine products, be they cigarettes or e-cigarettes, to 21.

The public health benefits of barring people under age 21 from buying these products could be tremendous, including “4.2 million fewer years of life lost” among the next generation of American adults, according to a report released in March by the Institute of Medicine.

Setting a new minimum age nationwide, that study estimated, would result in nearly a quarter-million fewer premature deaths and 50,000 fewer deaths from lung cancer among people born between 2000 and 2019. Teenagers, especially those between ages 15 and 17, are most vulnerable to becoming addicted at a time when their brains are still developing.

The study, conducted at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, studied the predicted benefits of raising the minimum legal age for buying tobacco products — currently 18 in most states — to 19, 21, and 25 years. The greatest health benefits would actually come from raising the legal age even higher to 25, at which point the report estimates the prevalence of smokers among today’s teens, when they become adults, would decline by 16%.

The number of people who would not smoke if the age limit was raised to 21 is still significant. It’s estimated smoking rates would fall to 12%.

Even though fewer teenagers are using tobacco than ever before, more than half of current smokers say they started smoking before they were 18, studies show. And the number of teens who tried e-cigarettes and hookahs tripled in one year. The AAP policy statement urges the U.S. Federal Food and Drug Administration to regulate e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems the same as other tobacco products.

Chris Hansen of the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network praised the study when it came out in March, saying “powerful interventions are needed to keep youth from lifelong addictions to these deadly products.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement calling the report “a crucial contribution to the debate on tobacco access for young people.”

“There is no safe way to use tobacco,” said Dr. Sandra G. Hassink, the academy’s president.

The FDA cannot raise the age limit nationwide. The minimum age in four states is 19, and in several local jurisdictions including New York City have raised the legal age to 21.

Historically, the tobacco industry has called for “responsible” consumption of tobacco products.

Companies should create more child-resistant packaging to keep curious kids from drinking the liquid nicotine used in e-cigarettes, the AAP policy statement also said. In 2014, there were more than 3,000 e-cigarette calls to U.S. poison centers. As little as half a teaspoon can kill an average-size toddler, according to the AAP. Liquid nicotine is extremely toxic when ingested on its own.

“Tobacco is unique among consumer products in that it severely injures and kills when used exactly as intended,” states the AAP policy statement. “Protecting children from tobacco products is one of the most important things that a society can do to protect children’s health.”

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/26/health/raise-minimum-smoking-age/

Stateline: Should the Smoking Age Be 21? Some Legislators Say Yes

By Jenni Bergal, Stateline | Pew Charitable Trust
While a growing number of states have turned their attention to marijuana legalization, another proposal has been quietly catching fire among some legislators—raising the legal age to buy cigarettes.
This summer, Hawaii became the first state to approve increasing the smoking age from 18 to 21 starting Jan 1. A similar measure passed the California Senate, but stalled in the Assembly. And nearly a dozen other states have considered bills this year to boost the legal age for buying tobacco products.
“It really is about good public health,” said Democratic Hawaii state Sen. Rosalyn Baker, who sponsored the legislation. “If you can keep individuals from beginning to smoke until they’re at least 21, then you have a much greater chance of them never becoming lifelong smokers.”
Supporters say hiking the legal age to 21 not only will save lives but will cut medical costs for states. But opponents say it would hurt small businesses, reduce tax revenue and violate the personal freedom of young adults who are legally able to vote and join the military.
Measures to raise the smoking age to 21 also were introduced this year in Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia, according to the Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation, an advocacy group aimed at keeping young people from starting to smoke. Iowa and Texas considered measures to increase the legal age to 19. None of those bills passed. And just last week, a Pennsylvania legislator introduced a bill to up the minimum age there to 21.

Cities Act First

In almost every state, the legal age to buy tobacco products is 18. Four states—Alabama, Alaska, New Jersey and Utah—have set the minimum at 19.
Anti-tobacco and health care advocates say that hiking the smoking age to 21 is a fairly new approach in their effort to reduce young people’s tobacco use. Until recently, research on the topic has been somewhat limited, they say.
That hasn’t stopped a growing number of local governments from taking action on their own in the last few years. As of late September, at least 94 cities and counties, including New York City, Evanston, Illinois, and Columbia, Missouri, had passed measures raising the smoking age to 21, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, an advocacy group that promotes reducing tobacco use.
One of those communities is Hawaii County, the so-called “Big Island” of Hawaii, where the law changed last year after a grassroots effort by health care advocates, anti-smoking groups and local high school students. That coalition, joined by teens from across Hawaii, continued its fight at the state level, and legislators heard the message, said Sen. Baker, whose bill also included e-cigarettes, battery-powered devices that deliver vaporized nicotine, which have become popular among young people.
Supporters of raising the smoking age to 21 say that a turning point was a March report by the Institute of Medicine, the health arm of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, which predicted that raising the age to 21 would cut smoking by 12 percent by the time today’s teenagers are adults. It also would result in about 223,000 fewer premature deaths.
The institute’s report also supported health care advocates’ argument that preventing or delaying teens and young adults from experimenting with smoking would stop many of them from ever taking up the habit. About 90 percent of adults who become daily smokers say they started before they were 19, according to the report.
“Raising the age to 21 will keep tobacco out of high schools, where younger kids often get it from older students,” said John Schachter, state communications director for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “If you can cut that pipeline off, you’re making great strides.”
California state Sen. Ed Hernandez, a Democrat who sponsored a measure to raise the smoking age, said it’s good public policy.
“If we make it a law to drive with your seatbelt on to protect the consumer, or to require helmets for people on motorcycles, why can’t we raise the smoking age to protect young adults from becoming addicted to tobacco?” he said.
Supporters also point out that 21 became the national legal drinking age after President Ronald Reagan signed legislation in 1984 that forced states to comply or risk losing millions of dollars in federal highway funds. That has resulted in reduced alcohol consumption among young people and fewer alcohol-related crashes, national studies have found.
“President Reagan thought young people were not ready to make this decision to drink or to drink and drive before they turned 21,” said Rob Crane, president of the Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation. “Smoking kills more than six times as many people as drinking.”

Personal Choice

Opponents say that raising the smoking age to 21 would have negative consequences for businesses, taxpayers, and 18-year-olds who should be free to make a personal choice about whether they want to smoke.
Smokers’ rights groups, retailers and veterans’ organizations are among those who’ve opposed such legislation.
“If you’re old enough to fight and die for your country at age 18, you ought to be able to make the choice of whether you want to purchase a legal product or not,” said Pete Conaty, a lobbyist for numerous veterans groups who testified against the California bill. “You could enlist in the military, go to six months of training, be sent over to Iraq or Afghanistan and come back at age 19½ to California and not be able to buy a cigarette. It just doesn’t seem fair.”
Opponents say it’s wrong to compare cigarettes with alcohol. “If you smoke one or two cigarettes and get behind the wheel of a car, you’re not driving impaired,” Conaty said.
Opponents also say taxpayers would take a financial hit if the smoking age is raised because it would mean less revenue from cigarette taxes.
In New Jersey, where a bill to hike the smoking age to 21 passed the Senate last year and remains in an Assembly committee, a legislative agency estimated that tax revenue would be reduced by about $19 million a year.
In California, a fiscal analysis by the Senate appropriations committee estimated that raising the age to 21 would cut tobacco and sales tax revenue by $68 million a year. That would be offset by what the analysis said could be “significant” health care cost savings to taxpayers—reaching as much as $2 billion a year.
Stores that sell tobacco products and e-cigarettes also fear the effect. The Hawaii Chamber of Commerce opposed the measure there.  And Bill Dombrowski, president of the California Retailers Association, suggested that raising the smoking age would simply drive young people to the black market.
“If you raise the age, people under 21 will find the cigarettes somewhere else,” he said.

Health Care Savings

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. and is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths a year, according to a 2014 U.S. Surgeon General report, which said the direct medical costs of smoking are at least $130 billion a year.
Supporters of the 21 smoking age say that the savings in health care costs, especially through Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the poor and disabled, will far outweigh any loss in tax revenue for states.
Schachter and other advocates say Hawaii’s action, along with that of dozens of cities, will help spark legislation in other states and create a new standard for when young people take their first puff.
“There is momentum on this issue, and I think you’re going to see more and more states and cities moving in that direction,” Schachter said.
http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2015/10/14/should-the-smoking-age-be-21-some-legislators-say-yes

LA Times: $2 more for cigarettes? California tobacco tax proposal revived in special session

A proposal to raise the tobacco tax by $2 per pack of cigarettes in California was given new life Wednesday when legislation was announced as part of a special session on healthcare.
Supporters say the new bill has a better chance of passing than one that stalled in the regular session because the $1.5 billion raised by such a tax could help the state pay for healthcare costs for low-income residents, a key goal of the special session.
Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) said he will introduce the tobacco tax, noting that California’s current 87-cent-per-pack tobacco tax makes the state 33rd in the nation, far below New York, which charges a tax of $4.35 a pack. There is also a $1.01 federal tax on cigarettes.
A rally for the proposal was held Wednesday next to the Capitol by the Save Lives California coalition, made up of groups including the California Medical Assn., the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Assn. and the Service Employees International Union.
The coalition said that if the Legislature fails to muster the two-thirds vote to pass the tax, it will put the tax proposal on the 2016 ballot.
“We know raising the tobacco tax has been proven to prevent and reduce smoking, especially among young people,” Pan told the nearly 100 people at the rally. He said 40,000 people die each year in California from tobacco-related diseases, and treating such illnesses costs taxpayers $18.1 billion annually.
A Field Poll released Wednesday indicates a $2 tobacco tax to pay for healthcare costs is supported by 67% of Californians.
The tax is one of several anti-tobacco bills being considered during the special session, including one raising the smoking age to 21 and another restricting the use of electronic cigarettes in public.
“The special session is an opportunity for lawmakers to take long-overdue action to prevent young people from falling prey to the No. 1 cause of preventable death in California: tobacco addiction,” said Claudia Alvarez, an SEIU delegate and family medicine resident at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
Those in the audience at the rally included Jennifer Kent, the governor’s appointee as director of the California Department of Health Care Services.
“To the extent we have an ongoing need for revenues we’re obviously willing to consider both this tax and any other revenue sources,” Kent said in an interview afterward. “We’re here and interested and willing and able to partner” with the coalition.
She said there is a strong link between tobacco use and illnesses covered by Medi-Cal.
The regular-session tobacco tax bill was opposed by groups including the Cigar Assn. of America and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., which argued it creates a regressive tax on a declining revenue source.
“At a time when state revenue has recovered and the governor says there is even a surplus, there is no reason for a tax increase,” said Jon Coupal, president of the taxpayers group.
Proponents of the bill estimate 295,000 smokers will kick the habit the first year if the tax goes up $2 per pack, and many others will not start smoking to begin with.
http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-california-tobacco-tax-proposal-revived-for-special-session-20150826-story.html

HealthlineNews: Is 18 Too Young to Buy Tobacco Products? Some States Think So.

California is on the verge of joining other states in raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco, sparking more debate about what privileges and responsibilities fall on young adults.

How old should you be to purchase tobacco?

Some legislative leaders in the United States apparently think 18 is too young.

On Friday, Hawaii’s governor signed a bill raising the minimum age to buy tobacco to 21. The law takes effect next year.

Four states — Alabama, Alaska, New Jersey, and Utah — have raised the minimum age to buy tobacco to 19, while some local municipalities have raised it to 21.

And, earlier this month, the California State Senate overwhelmingly voted to increase the age at which a person can buy tobacco products from 18 to 21. The bill still needs Assembly approval and the governor’s signature.

The goal is to further limit access to tobacco products to young smokers. The move is backed by several health groups, including the American Cancer Society and the California Medical Association.

Dr. Jack Jacoub, an oncologist and director of thoracic oncology at the Memorial Care Cancer Institute at Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California, says with decades of data available, it’s clear the age increase is a sound move to prevent people from starting lifelong habits.

“It’s still a risk factor for a host of different cancers, not just lung cancer,” he said. “If you separate the legal aspect of it, it makes the most sense to raise the minimum age to 21.”

A Measure Aimed at Delaying the Start

A study by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published in March found that increasing the minimum legal age to 21 would likely prevent or delay when people would begin smoking, specifically children aged 15 to 17.

About 90 percent of smokers now start before 19 years old, so the argument is the 21-year minimum would reduce teens’ access to tobacco because it’s unlikely they would be in the same social circle as people old enough to purchase tobacco.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t have the authority to raise the legal smoking age to 21, so it’s an issue that must be dealt with at the state level. The federal government, however, does have a law that withholds federal highway funds to states that don’t have their minimum drinking age at 21.

The town of Needham, Massachusetts, raised its smoking age to 21 in 2005. Over the next decade, teenage rates of smoking dropped from 13 to 7 percent, according to the Education Development Center, which conducted the study.

In California, smoking has been banned in enclosed workspaces since 1995, and smoking in a vehicle with a minor has been illegal since 2008. This was done to prevent exposure to secondhand smoke, but the new proposed law would affect young smokers directly.

“The group where smokers usually start is the highest impact group,” Jacoub said. “I don’t know of anyone who would be against it.”

A handful of trade groups, such as the Cigar Association of America and the California Retailers Association, oppose the change on the grounds that Americans are considered adults under the eyes of the law, so that’s also when they should have the right to make their own decisions.

Personal choice is the crux of the argument the tobacco industry uses when opposing stricter legislation.

This new legislation has lit up an ongoing debate over when a person is considered a legal adult and what that entails.

When Are Americans Adults?

When the federal drinking age was pushed back from 18 to 21 in 1984, it was backed by health concerns, mainly the high rate at which minors were being killed in traffic accidents while under the influence.

Research shows the parts of the brain most responsible for decision-making, impulse control, sensation seeking, and susceptibility to peer pressure are still developing and changing between the ages of 18 and 21. The IOM study notes, “Adolescent brains are uniquely vulnerable to the effects of nicotine.”

Jamie Miller, a political consultant and e-cigarette lobbyist from Florida, likened the California legislation to the change in voting age in 1971 when young men were being drafted to serve in Vietnam.

The thought was that men and women old enough to serve in the armed forces should be able to vote for the people who decide to go to war.

“We’re looking at the unintended consequences of passing laws under public pressure at the moment. I personally believe we, as a society, made a mistake when we changed the Constitution to allow those who are 18 to vote just so we could draft those who are 18,” he said.

Saying he believes the fewer people who have access to addictive substances the better, Miller also says there needs to be some kind of uniformity to when young people are considered adults.

“If the age to drink and smoke is 21, we should change the draft and voting age to 21 as well,” he said. “In other words, full, legal adulthood would be 21.”

http://www.healthline.com/health-news/some-states-think-18-is-too-young-to-buy-tobacco-products-062015#5

Reuters: California Senate votes to raise smoking age to 21 from 18

LOS ANGELES | BY ALEX DOBUZINSKIS
The California Senate voted on Tuesday to raise the legal smoking age in the most populous U.S. state to 21 from 18, in a move that could make California one of the states with the highest smoking age.
The measure was approved by the Senate 26-8 and must now be approved by the state Assembly.
“We will not sit on the sidelines while big tobacco markets to our kids and gets another generation of young people hooked on a product that will ultimately kill them,” Senator Ed Hernandez, a Democrat and the bill’s author, said.
“Tobacco companies know that people are more likely to become addicted to smoking if they start at a young age,” Hernandez added in a statement.
The Institute of Medicine, the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, has said that increasing the smoking age to 21 would result in more than 200,000 fewer premature deaths nationally for those born between 2000 and 2019.
The Cigar Association of America opposed the bill, contending that 18-year-olds can serve in the military, vote and sign contracts and should thus enjoy the right to smoke, according to the Los Angeles Times.
David Sutton, a spokesman for Altria Group Inc, the parent of Philip Morris USA, said in an emailed statement that Altria believed states should defer to the federal government and “allow FDA and Congress the opportunity to think through this issue further before enacting different minimum age laws.”
Representatives for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, a unit of Reynolds American Inc, did not return calls seeking comment.
Hawaii lawmakers approved a measure in April to raise the smoking age to 21, and that is awaiting the state governor’s signature. Democratic Governor David Ige has not indicated whether he will sign the measure, and has until June 29 to decide whether to veto it, a spokeswoman for his office said.
Since 2013, New York City has required tobacco purchasers to be 21 or older, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. No state has a smoking age that high, but Alabama, Alaska, Utah and New Jersey set it at 19.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis and Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Sandra Maler)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/02/us-usa-smoking-california-idUSKBN0OI2EI20150602

Forum editorial: Minnesota tobacco use down

The anti-tobacco work of ClearWay Minnesota in conjunction with other tobacco cessation efforts has had remarkable results in reducing smoking rates among all age groups in Minnesota. It’s a record worthy of high praise. It’s unambiguous evidence that focused, science-based anti-tobacco campaigns can work.

Numbers released last week by ClearWay show only 14.4 percent of Minnesotans smoke cigarettes, down from 22.1 percent in 1999. The decline through the time period has been steady, and corresponds to increased education and imposition of legal restrictions on smoking in public places. Add new medical research about second-hand smoke, and graphic anti-smoking television advertising, and it appears the multi-faceted message is getting through.

But not to every age cohort.

In ClearWay statistics from 2010 to 2014, smoking hardly dipped at all (1 percent) in the 25-44 year-old group, from 19.7 percent to 18.7 percent. A similar slight improvement was measured in the 45-64 year-old cohort, compared with a huge drop (from 21.8 percent to 15.3 percent) in Minnesotans age 18-24. Which could lead to the conclusion that some Minnesotans don’t get smarter as they age. But whatever the reason, the overall percentages of all Minnesotans who smoke is down over the longer study period, and that’s good news for smokers who quit, non-smokers and reduced impacts on health costs associated with tobacco use. The trends are good.

ClearWay is not resting on its excellent record. In the eight years it has left in its mandate (funded by the national tobacco settlement of a few years back), the agency’s agenda includes raising cigarette taxes, which all studies show discourage young people from purchasing tobacco, and raising the age for tobacco purchases from 18 to 21. Again, research finds that raising the age to beyond high school age contributes to fewer high school students trying tobacco. New York City and Hawaii have already taken that step.

There is still much to be accomplished to achieve as smoke-free a society as possible. A lot has been done, often led by private sector companies that banned smoking from the workplace before cities and states enacted overall smoking bans in buildings and, in many instances, outdoor public spaces. Decades of research into smoking-related illness and death, and the proven health hazards of secondhand smoke, have been the underpinnings of changing public policy. ClearWay’s work and similar complementary efforts have been pivotal in changing the way enlightened Americans view tobacco use.

Forum editorials represent the opinion of Forum management and the newspaper’s Editorial Board.

http://www.inforum.com/opinion/editorials/3751883-forum-editorial-minnesota-tobacco-use-down

Fargo Forum: Anti-tobacco groups eye raising purchasing age to 21 in Minnesota

By Patrick Springer

MOORHEAD – Minnesota tobacco control advocates may propose raising the legal age for buying cigarettes to 21 years old.
Hawaii, New York City and more than 30 municipalities in Massachusetts have raised the legal age for buying tobacco, and the experiment will be closely watched, said Andrea Mowery, vice president of ClearWay Minnesota, a foundation that promotes prevention and cessation of smoking and tobacco use.
ClearWay Minnesota, funded by the state’s share of the 1998 tobacco settlement, will only move ahead with a proposal if a wide consensus of health groups and public health groups agree the approach has merit, Mowery told The Forum editorial board.
“We’re part of a broad coalition,” she said, and listed the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association and American Heart Association as frequent partners. “There’s a very collegial and collaborative process.”
More than 9 of every 10 smokers start before the age of 19 or 20, a reality that is behind the nascent movement to raise the legal age for buying tobacco, Mowery said.
Earlier efforts, which public health officials credit with reducing smoking rates, have centered on raising tobacco taxes and banning smoking in public places.
Teenagers are especially sensitive to price increases spurred by tax increases, which have been shown to be the most effective means to date of curbing youth smoking, Mowery said.
“Youth and young adults are much more sensitive to price,” she said.
Smoking prevalence continues to decline in Minnesota, where the smoking rate stood at 14.4 percent last year, down 35 percent since 1999 and the lowest rate ever recorded, according to the Minnesota Adult Tobacco Survey in 2014.
“So really significant progress,” Mowery said.
The national adult smoking rate is 19 percent. In North Dakota, the adult smoking rate was 21.9 percent in 2011, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Persistent gaps remain in smoking rates, with those who have less than a high-school education the most likely to smoke, with a rate of 28.6 percent.
Young adult smoking decreased by 6.4 percentage points over the past four years, dropping to 15.3 percent from 21.8 percent, the only noteworthy decline for any age group.
“That is quite a stark departure,” Mowery said.
But that drop coincided with a sharp spike in the use of e-cigarettes, which jumped from a rate of 0.7 percent to 5.9 percent from 2010 to 2014.
The age group most likely to smoke is the 25- to 44-year-old bracket, with a rate of 19.7 percent for men and 18.7 percent for women.
American Indians smoke at a rate that far surpasses the overall population—a rate of 59 percent, quadruple the 14.4 percent overall rate.
“On the whole we’re making good progress,” Mowery said, adding that challenges remain.
http://www.inforum.com/news/3748538-anti-tobacco-groups-eye-raising-purchasing-age-21-minnesota

Letter: Support e-cigarette age restrictions

By Tom Woodmansee, Bismarck

House Bill 1265 would require e-vapor products (commonly referred to as e-cigarettes) to be sold only to adults 18 years of age and above, an important goal that we should all agree on. We support enactment of underage access prevention for e-vapors and alternative nicotine products, which is why we support House Bill 1265.
This bill includes broad definitions to ensure that these new product forms are included in North Dakota’s existing underage access prevention laws.
Products that contain nicotine, whether they are traditional tobacco products like cigarettes, cigars or smokeless tobacco or new e-vapor products, are for adults only. We don’t believe people who are under legal age should be purchasing these products. Currently, 41 states prohibit sale of e-vapor products to minors.
The bill would also establish statewide policy regarding sales of these new types of products such as e-vapor. This bill would provide uniform policy for e-vapor and alternative nicotine product sales across North Dakota and avoid a patchwork of differing local restrictions or ordinances that could cause confusion among adult consumers and retailers.
That’s why we support this legislation to help ensure that e-vapor products are only available to adult consumers and to support retailers in having uniform state standards for tobacco and alternative nicotine product sales to continue to help address underage access to all types of products that contain nicotine.
Let’s do the right thing and pass House Bill 1265. It’s the responsible approach that will help make these products only available to adults and out of kids’ hands.
Woodmansee is with the North Dakota Grocers Association.
http://www.inforum.com/letters/3684232-letter-support-e-cigarette-age-restrictions

Forum editorial: Close off e-cig sales to minors

Fargo Forum Editorial

The Legislature should follow the lead of several North Dakota cities and ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. As it stands now, even with sales bans in Fargo, Bismarck, Casselton, Mapleton and other cities, e-cigs can be (and likely are being) sold to minors all over the state. It’s a gaping loophole in a state law that in every other way treats e-cigs like tobacco products.

E-cigs are touted as an effective option for tobacco users to get off cigarettes, although the research is inconclusive. But they also appeal to kids because they are used by some minors for “vaping,” which kids think is “cool,” according to public health experts. E-cigs don’t contain tobacco, but they can be nicotine delivery devices. Often the substances in e-cigs include candy flavors. There is little doubt the products are aimed at adolescents, according to new research. And kids are taking them up at alarming rates.

That being said, e-cig sellers in Fargo insist it is against company policy to sell to anyone under age 18, no matter what a state’s law or city’s ordinances allow or prohibit. In fact, e-cig retailers say they want a state law that bans sales to minors, and will work with legislators in the upcoming session.

While the retailers’ public attitude is good news, questions remain. Where are kids getting e-cigs? Why is use up among minors? Who is policing what?

Most troubling: There is no question e-cigs are a gateway to smoking among teens. New studies indicate that as more minors try e-cigs (up in several states), chances increase that they will try tobacco and get hooked. Nicotine, whether in an e-cig or a cigarette, is addictive. It should come as no surprise that big tobacco companies are in the e-cig business.

The state of North Dakota, with what appears to be support from e-cig sellers, should close the sales-to-minors loophole. Without informed and firm action, e-cigs could erode the progress that’s been made to reduce tobacco use in the 50 years since the first surgeon general’s report revealed the health risks of smoking.

Forum editorials represent the opinion of Forum management and the newspaper’s Editorial Board.

http://www.inforum.com/opinion/3637026-forum-editorial-close-e-cig-sales-minors

USA Today – Our View: E-cigarettes cloud progress on teen smoking

USA Today Editorial Board

E-cigarettes, once seen as a harmless alternative to tobacco smoking, are beginning to look more like a new gateway to addiction.

This year, for the first time, more teens used electronic cigarettes than traditional ones: 17% of high school seniors used the devices, vs. 14% who smoked cigarettes. Kids in eighth and 10th grades favored them 2-to-1 over traditional smokes, according to an eye-opening University of Michigan survey released Tuesday.

In one sense, there is good news. Teen smoking hit a record low last year after a steady decline since the late 1990s, leaving fewer teens vulnerable to the risk of cancer, heart disease and emphysema that comes with tobacco use. But e-cigarettes are a troubling alternative.

Just as scientists didn’t grasp the danger of tobacco when the nation was becoming addicted, they don’t fully understand the risks posed by e-cigarettes now.

One is obvious: addiction.

E-cigs, battery-powered nicotine inhalers that produce a vapor cloud, could be every bit as addictive as tobacco. With sales skyrocketing to $754 million, 30 times five-year-ago levels, and tobacco giants Altria and Reynolds entering the business, millions of people are getting hooked.

This is particularly a problem during the teen years because that is when nearly all smokers pick up their habit.

For manufacturers, the logic is inescapable: Addict a teenager and you could have a customer for life; miss the moment and you have no customer at all. So in ways subtle and not so subtle, e-cigarette makers have applied Big Tobacco’s advertising and marketing practices.

One prominent tactic is their use of celebrities — including former Playboy centerfold Jenny McCarthy, singer Courtney Love, actor Stephen Dorff and teen heartthrob Robert Pattinson of Twilight fame — to make “vaping” look sexy and rebellious.

No one knows how dangerous this is because with federal oversight missing, no one knows exactly what’s in the devices, some made in China. A Japanese study found hazardous substances in the vapor at higher levels than in cigarette smoke.

There are obvious ways to address the problem, starting with attention from the newly confirmed surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, and analysis by the Food and Drug Administration of e-cigarette content. Both worked with tobacco but could be thwarted by a Congress rigidly opposed to regulation.

Alternatively, states could fill the breach. Nearly a dozen still allow e-cigarette sales to minors when they plainly should not. They could also use the 1998 tobacco settlement negotiated with the industry long before e-cigarettes existed. The accord defines covered products in a way that includes e-cigarettes, because nicotine is derived from tobacco.

By invoking the settlement, state attorneys general would be able to clamp down on marketing that’s targeted at youth, including certain celebrity promotions, concert sponsorships and access to free samples.

After a decades-long battle against youth smoking, it would be tragic to see a new generation of teens hooked on a different but potentially dangerous substitute.

USA TODAY’s editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view — a unique USA TODAY feature.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/12/16/e-cigarettes-teen-smoking-university-of-michigan-editorials-debates/20485297/