On April 21, 2010 the New Hampshire Senate unanimously voted to pass HB1541, which bans the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors. Members of the New Hampshire Youth Network watched from the gallery in Concord, as their first advocacy campaign ended with a legislative victory.
The youth first sounded the alarm about this product last summer at a barbecue hosted by Breathe New Hampshire. “We had never heard of this product before our youth network members told us about it,” said Marie Mulroy, Tobacco Program Manager at Breathe New Hampshire. “We looked into it a bit and were astounded by this blatant marketing of a new nicotine delivery device to our youth.” The newly launched statewide youth network voted to take this issue on as their first legislative campaign. “Since that time, they have worked very hard to educate the public and our legislators about electronic cigarettes,” said Mulroy. “They have testified at both the House and the Senate. They have drafted letters; created signs; posted information to YouTube; made phone calls, and more,” she said. Senator Margaret Hassan spoke of the insidiousness of this product being marketed to our youth. She recognized and thanked the youth for their efforts from the Senate floor.
The high tech cigarettes look exactly like traditional cigarettes; however, they are battery operated, made of plastic, and use liquid nicotine contained in refillable cartridges. The unit heats up and produces a vapor that the user inhales, just like the smoke from a traditional cigarette. Users are said to be “vaping” rather than smoking. There is no tell tale odor or smoke, so users can easily remain undetected in public restrooms, without setting off smoke detectors or sprinkler systems. Because this product does not use tobacco, it has been completely unregulated since it first began showing up on the market last summer. This means that until now, E-cigarettes could be bought and used by anyone, including children, at any time. Representatives from Breathe New Hampshire, as well as from its New Hampshire Youth Network, have been working to educate the public about these products. They spearheaded the effort to stop the sale of electronic cigarettes to youth. Representative Rich DiPentima of Portsmouth is the prime sponsor of HB1541, which amends current NH youth tobacco access laws to extend to and include the liquid nicotine in the electronic smoking device cartridges.
“My friend bought an electronic cigarette because she thought it would help her quit smoking,” said Georgia Doing, a student at High Mowing School in Wilton. “She has been smoking more than ever. Despite the optimistic benefits that e-cigarettes advertise, the truth is they create or fuel an addiction to nicotine.”
Another student, Mara Zrzavy of Peterborough told legislators that she “can honestly say that teens are influenced by our peers and by advertising, and with the cool electronic format and the strategic placing of ads in malls and the Internet (Facebook), teens will want this exciting new product that comes in candy-like flavors and is marketed by people we aspire to be.” Others in support of the bill include the NH Attorney General’s Office, the NH Cigar Association, and the Electronic Cigarette Association. “This bill makes good sense,” said Daniel Fortin, Breathe New Hampshire’s President and CEO. “We know that nicotine is a highly addictive substance and this is just one more way to attract and addict our youth. We need to do all that we can to keep electronic cigarettes out of their hands.”
“The public is outraged by this product,” said Marie Mulroy, Legislative Liaison for Breathe New Hampshire. “That is once they know about it. The truth is that people just don’t know about this product or they assume the product is already subject to regulation. Once they know the facts, they are angry. We are grateful the NH legislature is doing its part by passing this important legislation.”
The Electronic Cigarette (e-cigarettes) are new, untested and unregulated high-tech nicotine-smoking devices, which have recently been made available to all consumers.
The e-cigarettes closely resemble and purposefully mimic the art of smoking by having users inhale vaporized liquid nicotine created by heat through an electronic ignition system. Perhaps you have seen them at your local mall being sold at kiosks by trendy looking young people who are flauntingly "vaping" them. The vapors are expelled via a cartridge that usually contains a concentration of pure nicotine. The cartridge and ignition system are housed in a device created to look exactly like a traditional cigarette, cigar or pipe. After inhaling, the user then blows out the heated vapors producing a “cloud” of undetermined substances that is virtually indistinguishable from traditional cigarettes, cigars and pipes. That's called "vaping."
A survey of New Hampshire malls has determined that the kiosks that sell the e-cigarettes are strategically placed near stores that attract youth, such as American Eagle, the Gap, and Abercrombie and Fitch. Because these are nicotine delivery devices and technically are not tobacco products, they do not currently come under any regulation from the State of New Hampshire or Federal laws, which would prohibit e-cigarettes from being sold to minors.
E-Cigarettes have not undergone testing by the United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) as drug delivery devices, nor have e-cigarette manufacturers submitted for independent peer review any findings on their safety. The FDA has publicly expressed concerns over the safety of these devices. The FDA has launched an official investigation into the e-smoking devices. However, regardless of the outcome of the FDA investigations, it should illegal for minors to be in possession of any form of nicotine, which is a highly addictive drug. Studies show that adolescents can become addicted to nicotine after ingesting the equivalent of 20 traditional cigarettes (the amount traditionally available in a single pack).
A picture is worth a thousand words. We invite you to submit your drawings about e-cigarettes. We will post them in our new image gallery. Please send your drawings as .pdf or .jpg to bdovidio@breathenh.org and we will be happy to share them with our website guests. To view the gallery, click here.
|