IOWA
Analysis, Commentary, Musings
IOWA
Analysis, Commentary, Musings
CALIFORNIA
Key Points:
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California’s vaping industry provided more than $2.9 billion in economic activity in 2018 while generating 2,905 vaping-related jobs. Sales of disposables and prefilled cartridges in California exceeded $9.9 million in 2016.
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2. As of December 23, CDPH has reported 187 cases of vaping-related lung illnesses and includes information on age, gender, and substances vaped. 82 percent of California patients reported vaping THC. CDPH earns an A-ranking for its reporting on vaping-related lung illnesses.
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In 2018, 10.9 percent of high school students reported past 30-day use of e-cigarettes and vaping devices. In 2017, only 1.9 percent of high school students reported daily use of vapor products. More data is needed.
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Only 2 percent of FDA retail compliance checks resulted in sales of e-cigarettes to minors between January 1, 2018 and September 30, 2019.
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California spends very little on tobacco prevention. In 2019, California dedicated only $250.4 million on tobacco control, or 8 percent of what the state received in tobacco settlement payments and taxes.
FLAVOR BAN RESTRICTIONS WOULD VAPORIZE TOBACCO HARM REDUCTION IN CALIFORNIA
July 11, 2019
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After a bill that would ban the sale of flavored tobacco products was shelved by its sponsor, California lawmakers are once again trying to restrict the sale of flavored electronic cigarettes and vaping devices.
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Assembly Bill 1639 would limit the sale of flavored e-cigarettes to specialty, age-restricted tobacco and vape shops, and online retailers that use age-verification technology.
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Tobacco, mint, and menthol flavored e-cigarettes would be excluded from the ban.
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Since their introduction to the U.S. market in 2007, electronic cigarettes and vaping devices have helped an estimated three million American adults quit smoking.
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A 2019 study in the New England Journal of Medicine found the use of e-cigarettes to be “twice as effective” as nicotine replacement therapy in helping smokers quit.
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A 2018 study of nearly 70,000 American adults found similar conclusions among adult vapers, with flavors providing a “vital role in the use of electronic cigarettes and vaping devices.” Moreover, 83.2 percent and 72.3 percent of survey respondents reported vaping fruit and dessert flavors, respectively, “at least some of the time.”
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It is hypocritical for lawmakers to state they intend to curb youth e-cigarette use. California spends very little on tobacco education and prevention efforts. In 2018, the Golden State received approximately $2.582 billion in tobacco settlement payments and taxes, yet only spent $327.8 million, less than 1 percent, on prevention efforts.
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Lawmakers in California have proposed legislation that would prohibit tobacco retailers “from selling, offering for sale, or possessing with the intent to sell or offer for sale, a flavored tobacco product.” The ban applies to e-cigarettes, or tobacco harm reduction products.
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Lawmakers insist the legislation is designed to “curb the usage of [tobacco harm reduction] products by young people,” yet data is inconclusive and relies on faulty information.
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the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey and the 2018 Monitoring the Future Survey found increases in youth vaping occurring more than one time per month, but this is a misleading figure because it doesn’t make clear whether a person vaped twice in a month or vaped multiple times per day every single day of the month.
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Flavors are necessary to tobacco harm reduction.
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A 2016 CASAA survey of 27,343 adult e-cigarette users found 72 percent of respondents “credited tasty flavors with helping them give up tobacco.”
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A 2018 survey of nearly 70,000 American adult vapers found that flavors played a vital role, with nearly 95 percent of respondents reporting “the were ever smokers.”
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A 2015 R Street Policy Study concluded the presence of flavorings in electronic cigarettes greatly helps smokers quit using traditional tobacco cigarettes, with the author noting that there is no “evidence that suggests children are drawn to tobacco products specifically because of flavor.”
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Numerous organizations including Public Health England, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and the American Cancer Society have acknowledged the reduced harm of electronic cigarettes.
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In 2016, the Royal College of Physicians found the “long-term health risks associated with smoking [e-cigarettes] … are unlikely to exceed 5% of those associated with smoked tobacco products.”