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Age Increases To 21 To Purchase Tobacco Products

Most Flavored E-Cig Pods Planned To Be Pulled From Market

A new U.S. law went into effect at the end of 2019 prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21. Local stores are complying with the change notifying patrons with signs at the register and on the doors as they walk in.

“When a student is 18 or 19 years old, they could still be in high school and purchase products for themselves or friends. The increase in age is a real important start,” stated Valley County Health Department’s Tobacco Prevention Specialist Teri Long. “The increase in age hinders teenagers from purchasing.”

The increase in age for tobacco purchases was one of several provisions included in President Trump’s $1.4 trillion spending agreement that averted a government shutdown before the year ended. Following the President’s signature, the Federal Drug Administration noted on its website on Dec. 27, that “it is now illegal for a retailer to sell any tobacco product – including cigarettes, cigars and e-cigarettes – to anyone under 21. FDA will provide additional details on this issue as they become available.” Prior to the law going into effect, several states had already raised the minimum age to 21, including Oregon, Utah, Washington, and others in addition to Washington, D.C., and more than 500 cities and towns.

“DPHHS (The Department of Public Health and Human Services) strongly supports this new law, which is grounded in public health research and will protect young adults from a lifetime of addiction to nicotine,” said DPHHS Director Sheila Hogan. She also noted that nearly 95 percent of people who smoke cigarettes started before they turned 21 and that increasing the minimum age of sale from 18 to 21 will reduce tobacco use by delaying the age of initiation.

In the past, President Trump had spoken in favor of raising the age limit to purchase tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and vape products to 21. “We have to take care of our kids, most importantly, so we’re going to have an age limit of 21 or so, so we’ll be coming out with something next week very important on vaping,” Trump stated in November. Prior to his statement, the Trump administration in September also stressed the need to control vaping to young adults, wanting to seek a ban on all non-tobacco flavored e-cigarettes as a way to curb the epidemic of teen vaping.

On Jan. 2, the FDA announced a plan to place a ban, starting in early February, for the manufacture, distribution and selling of flavored e-cigarette products, including fruit and mint, while menthol and tobacco-flavored pods will still be available for purchase. The nationwide ban will allow the FDA to focus on restricting access to flavored e-cigarette cartridges and will also be monitoring e-cigarette companies that fail to adequately prevent youth access to their products. In Montana, these products were pulled from the shelf on Dec. 18 as a result of Emergency Rules that temporarily restrict the sale of flavored e-cigarette products and were to last for 120 days.

During the 120-ban in Montana, Long has checked local stores such as Ezzie’s Westend and Midtown, Holiday and Agland to make sure these types of products are off of the shelves. “If a business is seen to be in non-compliance, I can go to the county attorney to see what the next steps would be. If someone else personally sees a business also not in compliance, they can report it to the Valley County Health Department and if it’s not in the county, we have a way to report it to the appropriate county for them to address it,” explained Long.

Over the past few months, Long has worked with Valley County schools, holding presentations about the risks of vaping. “Middle schoolers have stated in a survey they have tried vaping and are currently vaping. As a parent, they need to be on their children and be aware of vaping. The community should also be aware as it’s an important and serious thing. I am working on getting the education to the community, to the parents, to the children.”

The epidemic of vaping doesn’t just affect Valley County or the state. “The United States has never seen an epidemic of substance use arise as quickly as our current epidemic of youth use of e-cigarettes,” stated Health and Human Services, who oversees the FDA, Secretary Alex Azar in a statement. “Flavored e-liquids for ‘open tank’ vaping systems that are mixed and sold by vape shops will still be legal, because these e-cigarettes are used mostly by adults.”

Long agrees that the ban targets kids from preventing them from starting the habit and is not targeted towards adults stating, “This is not a problem for the adults, but its for the kids.” However she does stress for those who do vape, to be aware of the effects. “With all of the lung issues that have occurred, until more information is determined what is causing those issues, just don’t vape. We don’t know the long term effects of this.”

Even though government health officials state that cartridge-based tobacco and menthol flavors are much less likely to be used by teens, medical experts have a different opinion. “The Administration’s new policy to address the youth e-cigarette epidemic by limiting flavors in some vaping products is a step in the right direction, but does not go far enough,” President of the American Medical Association Dr. Patrice Harris wrote in a statement. “The AMA is disappointed that menthol flavors – one of the most popular – will still be allowed, and that flavored e-liquids will remain on the market.”

According to the 2019 National Youth Tobacco Survey, over five million middle and high school students are current users of e-cigarettes. Almost one million use e-cigarettes daily and of teens who vape, at least 81 percent say flavors are the primary reason they do it, according to a 2013-2014 study. Also according to the study, mint flavoring and mango were the preferred choice for teens who vape.

“To reverse the e-cigarette epidemic, policy makers must prohibit flavored e-cigarettes and cannot be limited by what the tobacco industry says is acceptable. The evidence is clear that flavored e-cigarettes are driving the youth epidemic. Most youth e-cigarette users use flavored products and cite flavors as a key reason for their use. As long as flavored e-cigarettes remain available, kids will find ways to get them and this epidemic will continue,” stated Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids in a written statement.

Anyone interested in quitting tobacco can call the Montana Quit Line at 1-800-784-8669 or those 18 and under can call or text the My Life, My Quit Program at 1-855-891-9989.

 

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