Summary

Regulations will limit sales to adults only, prohibit free samples, and restrict use in public places and places of employment

Story

The King County Board of Health passed regulations today to protect King County youth from electronic smoking devices and unregulated nicotine delivery devices.

The Board of Health voted unanimously to:

• restrict the sales of e-cigarettes or any other unapproved nicotine delivery devices only to people 18 and older;
• prohibit free or highly discounted electronic smoking devices or unapproved nicotine delivery products;
• prohibit the use of e-cigarette devices in places where smoking is prohibited by law.

“I am pleased that the Board of Health acted today to prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes to youth and to restrict their use in public spaces,” said Board of Health Chair Julia Patterson. “E-cigarettes are used as a means to encourage people, especially our youth, to begin smoking. Their safety and long-term health impacts are untested and unknown. The Board of Health’s responsibility is to create policies that foster the health and well being of our community, and today’s action will help achieve that objective.”

Electronic smoking devices, commonly known as “e-cigarettes,” are battery-operated devices designed to look like and to be used in the same manner as conventional cigarettes. E-cigarettes use cartridges to deliver vaporized nicotine, the same highly addictive drug that’s in tobacco. The FDA is investigating e-cigarettes, but the products are currently unregulated at the federal level.

“This Board of Health proposal is a reasonable step to protect youth immediately in King County while federal authorities continue to look into these products,” said Dr. David Fleming, Director and Health Officer for Public Health – Seattle & King County. “Through this regulation, young people in King County have one less opportunity to get hooked on nicotine.”

E-cigarettes have a high appeal to youth. They are sold in convenience stores and mall kiosks and come in candy flavors including chocolate, vanilla and mint. The FDA has warned that e-cigarettes can increase nicotine addiction among young people and may lead youth to try conventional tobacco products.

"The Board of Health's action will help protect our youth from the addictive effects of nicotine," said Boardmember Dr. Bud Nicola.

“The Board of Health heard from a number of people who use these as an alternative to real cigarettes, and there may be a harm-reduction role,” said Boardmember and Seattle City Councilmember Sally Clark. “But nicotine remains addictive, and the steps we took today are about protecting youth.”

As these products have become more widely available, public use has also increased. E-cigarettes mimic the appearance of regular cigarettes because the user exhales a smoke-like vapor similar in appearance to the exhaled smoke from a cigarette. Their use is virtually indistinguishable from the use of traditional tobacco products in public, which leads to confusion and prompts people to light and smoke traditional tobacco products.

“No matter how it’s delivered, nicotine is highly addictive. We took an important step today to keep these unknown products out of the hands of kids in King County,” said Boardmember and Lake Forest Park Mayor David Hutchinson.

The Board of Health convened a Tobacco Policy committee in June 2010 to review the evidence and develop new tobacco policies that respond to current policy opportunities and disparities in King County. Today’s regulations were endorsed by the committee members.

Several other jurisdictions across the nation have created similar regulations related to e-cigarettes but it is believed that King County’s regulations are the most comprehensive in the nation.

The King County Board of Health sets county-wide public health policy, enacts and enforces local public health regulations, and carries out other duties of local boards of health specified in state law. These duties include enforcing state public health statutes, preventing and controlling the spread of infectious disease, abating nuisances, and establishing fee schedules for licenses, permits and other services.

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