In an effort aimed at reducing youth access to the nicotine-filled devices, supervisors approved new rules that prohibit the placement of vapor products or electronic cigarette in areas that are “accessible to the public without employee assistance.”
Use of e-cigarettes among young adults has ballooned, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting that the number of high school students who said they had used electronic cigarettes in the past 30 days has jumped from 1.5 percent in 2011 to 16 percent in 2015.
The products are often tempting to children and underage teens thanks to colorful packaging and kid-friendly flavors.
The idea is that moving the e-cigarettes and associated products to an area only accessible by cashiers will help cut off easy access by minors and spur employees to ask for photo identification from customers purchasing the products, said Trish Lees, spokesperson with the health district.
According to the Arizona Attorney General’s office, the average percentage of stores that sell tobacco or e-cigarettes to minors illegally during tobacco inspections is nearly 20 percent in Flagstaff and 25 percent in Coconino County as a whole.
The regulation also will better prevent youth shoplifting of those items, something the district hasn’t received reports of directly, but has heard happens through discussions with high schoolers, said Candice Koenker, program manager for tobacco and chronic disease prevention at the Coconino County Public Health District.
As of now, the new regulation applies only to businesses in unincorporated parts of the county that sell tobacco and e-cigarette products, which number 40 or fewer, Koenker said. The exception is shops selling tobacco and vapor products that require customers to be 18 or older to enter.
Municipalities have a choice between adopting their own ordinances on tobacco and vapor product placement in stores, adopting the county’s new rules, or deciding against adopting any sort of ordinance on the topic, which is currently the case with all cities and towns in the county except Flagstaff, Koenker said. Flagstaff has its own tobacco ordinance, though it does not regulate vape product placement.
The county's ordinance language mentions research that has found youth who have used a vapor product are more likely to use conventional tobacco products. Koenker pointed to two studies from the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2014 and 2015 that detail those findings.
The county ordinance also notes that the vapor released from such products contains propylene glycol, which is linked to the development of asthma in youth, some level of at least 10 cancer-causing chemicals, chemical flavorings, some of which can be harmful if inhaled, as well as highly addictive nicotine.
Public health officials also referred to a survey in January and February of nearly 400 people throughout the county that found that 79 percent of respondents favored an ordinance requiring vapor products be displayed behind the counter in stores. It also showed that 65 percent supported an ordinance prohibiting the use of vapor products in public and workplaces in municipalities as well as unincorporated parts of the county.
At the same time, more than half of respondents — 62 percent — did not know how e-cigarettes are regulated in Coconino County and about that same proportion didn’t know such regulations in the city of Flagstaff.
The public health services district is hoping that contact with county businesses about the ordinance change will help increase public knowledge. It’s also drafting a letter to municipal leaders in the county asking them to consider the ordinance for their jurisdictions, Koenker said.
Resource: http://azdailysun.com/news/local/county-finalizes-rules-for-stores-selling-e-cigarettes/article_edfbbae9-ba04-5c2b-893f-8602a156f2e3.html
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