Sales of e-cigs to minors targeted

COEUR d'ALENE - Area anti-smoking advocates want to keep electronic cigarettes out of the hands of children, and they've asked local cities for help.

Natalie Forsyth, working on behalf of the American Lung Association of Idaho and STAND (Support Teens Against Nicotine Dependency), has requested that the city of Coeur d'Alene create and enforce an ordinance prohibiting the sale of electronic cigarettes and their nicotine components to minors.

Use and possession of electronic cigarettes, also called e-cigarettes, by minors would be outlawed as well.

E-cigarettes are battery-powered and allow users to inhale a smokeless vapor containing nicotine.

"These products deliver significant doses of nicotine, a substance well known to be both addictive and harmful, to their users," wrote Forsyth, in a letter presented to Coeur d'Alene's General Services Committee. "Since e-cigarettes are unregulated and have yet to be approved by the FDA, they pose an added risk to youth as they are often sold in youth-oriented, candy flavors and can currently be purchased by minors."

The committee voted Monday to send the request to the city's legal staff to prepare a draft ordinance that will likely return to the committee for consideration in 4-6 weeks.

A similar request was made of the Post Falls City Council in April.

Post Falls Police Chief Scott Haug told The Press that the city is reviewing ordinances now in place in several cities and towns in eastern Washington, but no decision has been made whether to move forward with a local law.

Spokane County passed an ordinance in February banning the sale of e-cigarettes to minors.

Haug said he has heard that legislation may be created at the state level in Idaho, which would be preferable to local ordinances throughout the state.

The board of the Panhandle Health District passed a resolution in April asking Idaho lawmakers to enact legislation outlawing the sale to and use of the products by minors.

Linda Harder, health education specialist for the health district, said that while it will be good to have state laws and FDA regulations in place, waiting for them to be drafted and approved could be dangerous for Idaho children.

E-cigarettes can be a youngster's initiation to nicotine addiction, she said.

"Until they are regulated, the quality control is not there," Harder said.

Studies have shown that some e-cigarettes contain as much as three times the amount of nicotine advertised.

"And liquid nicotine is extremely dangerous," Harder said.

There can be as much as 500 to 1,000 milligrams of nicotine in e-cigarette accessories, Harder said, with no warning labels.

"The lethal dosage for children, it's only 10 milligrams," she said.

And kids are using them.

"From our teen tobacco user classes, I can tell you, they talk all the time about using the electronic cigarettes," Harder said. "Parents are even purchasing them for their kids to use to quit cigarettes."

Jan Flynn, manager of health initiatives for the American Lung Association of Idaho, said e-cigarettes have not been shown to be safe, nor as effective as other methods of smoking cessation.

To Flynn's knowledge, there are no local ordinances in Idaho prohibiting the accessibility of e-cigarettes to minors.

Some retailers say they don't sell to minors, Flynn said, but when tested, they have sold to customers under 18.

The Coeur d'Alene School District amended its tobacco policy earlier this year to include nicotine products so electronic cigarettes would be covered in the language. Student offenders face possible suspension, and for repeat offenders, expulsion.

Josh Jamerson, president of Smart Smoke, an e-cigarette retailer with a store in the Silver Lake Mall in Coeur d'Alene, said his company does not sell their products to anyone under 18.

He said Smart Smoke, which has its corporate office and four stores in Spokane, helped initiate Spokane County's move to legally ban sales to minors.

"It's one of those things. It's kind of the Wild West. We thought if there was already a law in place, that minors would think twice about using the products," Jamerson said. "We're not trying to encourage kids to smoke. This is an alternative for adults."