State lawmakers have started planning potential measures to curb the upward trend of teen vaping, from levying a new tax to banning e-cigarette flavors.
Those and other measures will be on the table at a public hearing in West Hartford next month hosted by Democratic Rep. Derek Slap, who says he plans to introduce legislation to combat the epidemic of underage e-cigarette use. The state’s public health committee will also tackle the issue in the upcoming legislative session, said House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford.
Last session, the committee approved a statewide measure raising the minimum age to purchase all tobacco products to 21, but it failed to advance further. Hartford was the first municipality in the state to pass a so-called “Tobacco 21” ordinance, and some members of the public health committee say they expect that to be the first anti-vaping measure they revisit.
“It’s probably the best thing we can do immediately that we haven’t already done to reverse this terrible trend,” said Rep. Sean Scanlon, D-Branford, pointing to a December report that high school use of e-cigarettes nearly doubled this year.
According to that national study, 20 percent of high school seniors in 2018 reported vaping nicotine in the past 30 days, up from 11 percent in 2017.
“I think the fact that one in five Connecticut high schools students are vaping should send alarm bells ringing in the head of every … policymaker in Connecticut,” Scanlon said. “I think we have a very rapidly escalating problem in every school district in the state, and one of the ways we can try to combat the problem is to raise the age.”
Ritter says he’s changed his mind about the still-controversial measure, which has passed in California, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Oregon, along with more than 370 cities and counties in 22 states.
“When it was first introduced, I had the libertarian in me going, “Gee, people can vote, fight in the military, can do a lot of things at 18. Is this something to restrict?” Ritter said Wednesday. “But the longer you delay someone from smoking, the far less likely it is they’ll be a smoker and be addicted their whole life.”
A Tobacco 21 law is one of four policies Slap, of West Hartford, plans to discuss at Hall High School at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 8, alongside members of the state Department of Public Health and local educators.
The other three measures are banning flavorings, passing a new tax and increasing regulations around internet sales and shipments of e-cigarettes.
Some of those measures are catching on faster than others across the country.
In June, voters in San Francisco upheld a ban on flavored vaping products despite a $12 million advertising campaign by the tobacco company behind Camel and Newport cigarettes and the Vuse Vibe e-cigarette. New York has said it plans to become the first state to ban flavored e-cigarettes and liquids next year.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in November that it’s weighing a federal ban on flavors besides tobacco and mint.
As for regulating the digital markets, several states now require online merchants to use an independent, third-party age verification service before processing orders. In Idaho, for instance, vendors must use a carrier that offers age verification at the door and include a statement about e-cigarettes on the package.
But federal law limits how much any one state can control merchants across state lines. That’s made other measures more attractive to lawmakers.
As of Jan. 1, eight states and Washington, D.C. had levied a tax on vapor products, according to the Tax Foundation, a national policy nonprofit. They range from 5 cents per fluid millimeter in Delaware, Kansas, North Carolina and Louisiana to Minnesota’s especially hefty excise, 95 percent of the wholesale cost of all tobacco products.
In three more states, there are municipal taxes on e-cigarettes, according to the foundation.
“We know that teens are especially sensitive to price so that’s something that could have an impact,” Slap said.
If Connecticut pursues a special tax, it should commit to use the proceeds for programs that prevent smoking and help smokers quit, Slap says. That’s something the state has not done with the millions of dollars its received over the past two decades from a massive, multistate settlement fund with four tobacco companies.
Since 2001, the state has spent just $29.2 million on tobacco counter-marketing, quit-smoking programs and prevention initiatives. No money has gone toward those efforts since 2015.
Over the same period, Connecticut has diverted $248 million from the tobacco settlement to its general fund and other programs. This year, Connecticut was one of only three states to provide no state funding for anti-smoking programs, even though tobacco use is said to kill 4,900 state residents and cost the state more than $2 billion in health care bills each year.
“It’s a sore topic,” Slap said. “You could argue there’s a benefit no matter where the money (from a special tax) goes. Perhaps fewer teens would vape because it’s cost prohibitive, but certainly if we’re going to increase or impose a tax on it, I would expect to have a conversation about where that revenue goes.”
Slap says he is open-minded about the state’s approach and wants to learn more from public health experts and educators.
He’s especially wary of making it harder for adult smokers to quit by switching to e-liquids, which contain low levels of toxic chemicals but none of the tar or carbon monoxide found in regular cigarettes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Meanwhile, many young people are inhaling nicotine for the first time via e-cigarettes. Forty percent of current users aged 18 to 24 have never tried regular cigarettes, according to the CDC.
“Because of the flavors, the sugary sweet flavors, it’s a very attractive activity and that’s the problem,” Slap said. “We can combat that while still allowing certain adults who are trying to quit smoking to use this. We have to find that balance, and we don’t have that right now.”
Rebecca Lurye can be reached at rlurye@courant.com.
