The Senate Judiciary Committee today heard testimony supporting a bill that would extend to e-cigarettes the same penalties that exist for tobacco sales to minors.
Chris Masoner, policy director for the American Cancer Society’s Kansas chapter, told committee members that e-cigarettes have not been scientifically studied and that very little is known about the content of e-cigarette vapors.
“Simply put, e-cigarette users cannot be sure of what they are inhaling,” he said. “The biggest concern, however, is that e-cigarettes will provide an attractive way to introduce young people to a potentially lifelong addiction to nicotine.”
Photo by Phil Cauthon
Smoking Everywhere's kiosk for selling e-cigarettes in West Ridge Mall in Topeka.
E-cigarettes are battery-powered tubes often resembling cigarettes that heat a liquid into a vapor that simulates the flavor of tobacco, fruits or spices. There has been no comprehensive study of e-cigarettes, and the health effects and level of nicotine delivered by the devices have been a source of dispute.
House Bill 2324 — which passed the House last month by a wide margin — would make it illegal for minors to buy or possess e-cigarettes or for retailers to sell them to minors.
Masoner said many e-cigarette flavors are intended for youth.
“Who’s going to buy grape-flavored or watermelon- or strawberry- or bubblegum-flavored — those are clearly marketed toward younger people,” Masoner said. “And when they make claims that these are healthier than cigarettes, it kind of undoes all the work we’ve done to let kids know about the dangers of tobacco use.”
Mary Jane Hellebust of the Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition said her biggest concern was that e-cigarettes were being marketed in malls directly to youth.
“What you’ve got usually is a relatively young person walking around in the middle of the mall holding one of them,” Hellebust told KHI News Service after the hearing. “They’re walking billboards when they’re inside smoking in a place we regard as a no-smoking environment.”
Attorney General Derek Schmidt has determined the use of e-cigarettes is not prohibited under the statewide smoking ban.
The were no opponents to the bill and the hearing was closed with no further action taken.
→ Related story: Bill would ease Kansas smoking ban
The KHI News Service is an editorially independent initiative of the Kansas Health Institute. It is supported in part by a variety of underwriters. The News Service is committed to timely, objective and in-depth coverage of health issues and the policy-making environment. All News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution, including a link back to KHI.org when a story is reposted online. An automatically updated feed of headlines and more from KHI can be included on your website using the KHI widget. More about the News Service at khi.org/newsservice or contact us at (785) 233-5443.