House Bill 69 defines “enhanced vapor products” as vaping devices that contain flavorings and/or have a nicotine content of “four percent” or greater.

• Enhanced vapor products include reusable and disposable products as well as any type of device including open tank mod-styles and cartridge-based systems.

• Retailers of enhanced vapor products would be required to maintain annual licenses.

• Moreover, these products would be sold exclusively in age-restricted stores, and all sales must be in-person, essentially banning all other sales, including online, catalog, and phone sales. 

House Bill 32 would apply the tobacco tax to vapor products and increase the excise tax from 15 percent to 27.5 percent of the wholesale price.

• The legislation also eliminates previous legislation that recognized tobacco harm reduction.

According to the 2019 Kentucky High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey, Kentucky does not have an epidemic of youth using e-cigarettes. In 2019, 73.9 percent of Kentucky high school students reported not using a vapor product in the 30 days prior to the survey. Only 8.7 percent reported daily e-cigarette use.

The Heartland Institute recently analyzed several statewide youth vaping surveys to understand the role of flavors in youth e-cigarette use. In an analysis of five states, only 15.6 percent of high school students cited using e-cigarettes because of flavors. Overwhelmingly, youth are using vapor products because a friend and/or family member had used them.

Rather than taxing tobacco harm reduction products, lawmakers should note their use reduces current costs.

• ​For example, one analysis estimated Medicaid savings could have amounted to $48 billion in 2012 if e-cigarettes had been adopted in place of combustible cigarettes by all Medicaid recipients who currently consume cigarettes.

• A 2017 study found Medicaid savings “will be approximately $2.8 billion per 1 percent of enrollees,” over the next 25 years if 1 percent of Medicaid recipients switched from combustible cigarettes to e-cigarettes.

Kentucky lawmakers should rely on existing tobacco funding for programs that can reduce youth e-cigarette use and help adults quit smoking.

• In 2019, Kentucky received an estimated $507.3 million in tobacco taxes and tobacco settlement payments.

• In the same year, the commonwealth spent only $3.8 million, or 0.07 percent, on tobacco control programs, including education and prevention.