OPINION: It’s time to ban flavored vapes in Washington

This editorial was published in The Columbian of Vancouver, Wash.

It was back in 1964 that the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General released a report that warned the public that cigarette smoking was bad for people. About 42% of U.S. adults smoked cigarettes in those days, a number that has since decreased to around 18%, according to Harvard Health.

Smoking once was seen as a glamorous habit of movie stars, but today’s cigarette smokers are more likely to be viewed as social pariahs or pitied as addicts. But as older smokers quit or die, some young people still pick up the tobacco habit.

Unlike their grandparents, these younger tobacco users are turning to e-cigarettes and vaping products as their first choice to ingest nicotine.

Washington’s 2023 Healthy Youth Survey showed 18.8% of Clark County 10th-graders have at least tried a vape or an e-cigarette, compared with 18.6% statewide. And 7.7% of these local kids had used a vape product within the last 30 days.

Many of these electronic products contain flavoring along with the nicotine. About 2.3% of local 10th-graders say they use those products. Researchers say tobacco companies use these flavored products — some taste like fruit or candy — to lure and hook young customers.

That’s the segment that would be targeted by a bill that has already been filed for this year’s legislative session. The bill, which was filed by Democrats with the endorsement of Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal, would ban sales of flavored vapes, menthol cigarettes and nicotine pouches effective Jan. 1, 2026. The online news site Washington State Standard reports the legislation, introduced as House Bill 1203, would also target “entertainment vapor products” that include video games or music.

“The prevalence of flavored products is bringing way too many young people into very dangerous behaviors for themselves,” Reykdal said. “I’ve said before that these industries are, quite frankly, trying to create customers for life.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has banned all flavors except menthol in cigarettes since it gained that authority in 2009. Last year, the Biden administration announced it would also ban menthol cigarettes, but the ban was postponed indefinitely in what critics said was an election-year decision to avoid angering menthol cigarette smokers. But flavored vapes are still legal on the federal level.

Assuming House Bill 1203 passes, businesses licensed to sell tobacco products would be required to post signs noting the statewide prohibition. The bill would also allocate some money to the state Department of Health to build an awareness campaign around the dangers of using flavored nicotine products.

Of course, the measure has its critics, chiefly in the tobacco industry. The bill presumably would reduce state sales tax revenue as tobacco users quit and replacement users don’t get hooked in the first place. Tobacco lobbyists also point out that some research suggests vaping poses less of a health risk than smoking, so it would be beneficial to offer products to entice smokers to switch.

But according to the Journal of the American Medical Association, commercial tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States. Tobacco use costs society billions of dollars annually, with one 2018 study putting the cost of cigarette smoking at more than $600 billion annually. It would be wise for Washington to take action to make tobacco as unappealing as possible to youths.

TNS