Crowd objects to proposed rules for vaping - Kitsap Sun

By Tad Sooter of the Kitsap Sun

BREMERTON — Silverdale resident Patrick Turner celebrated a milestone earlier this month.

March 5 marked the one-year anniversary of the day he stopped smoking and started vaping.

"The day I picked up vaping, I put down a cigarette for the very last time," the 24-year-old said.

Turner's story was echoed by many fellow vapers Thursday night as the Kitsap Public Health District board took comments on a draft ordinance to regulate the use and sales of vapor products, including e-cigarettes. A large majority of the crowd of 46 turned out to oppose the proposed rules. Most of the speakers shared stories about how vaping helped them give up tobacco.

"While we can all agree vaping is an adult activity, please consider all the good these products have done for those of us who'd pretty much given up on ever being tobacco-free," one woman said.

Vapor users inhale from electronic devices that vaporize flavored liquids. The liquids usually contain nicotine and other chemicals. Vaping has gained mainstream popularity in recent years, but unlike cigarette smoking, the long term health effects of vaping are not known.

Individual ingredients commonly used in vaping liquids have been shown to be harmful to human health, according to the language of the draft ordinance. The Food and Drug Administration has not approved vapor devices as safe tobacco cessation aids. The vape industry remains almost entirely unregulated at the state and federal level, but a few Washington counties have enacted local guidelines.

The health district's proposed ordinance would ban vaping in public places and places of employment, following rules already in place for cigarettes. Minors would be prohibited from buying, possessing or using vapor products. Vape stores would be required to obtain permits, and in-store sampling of vapor products would be limited. Retailers that allowed sampling would have to maintain independent ventilation systems.

Vape store owners and customers criticized the proposed rules on in-store sampling. They said interactions between customers and staff are necessary for vapers to learn how to select and safely use vapor products.

"A lot of good things happen in my shop because people gather there," said Aaron Crisp, owner of Crisp Vapes in Silverdale.

Crisp said the proposed rules for retailers "looked like a chain saw going into a surgery room."

Other speakers argued vaping is much healthier than smoking, and presented studies they said contradict sources cited by the health district.

The draft ordinance had some supporters in the crowd. They raised concerns over vapor use among minors, the potential health ramifications of vaping, and safety hazards related to vapor devices.

Bremerton School District Superintendent Aaron Leavell said he appreciated the board's emphasis on keeping vapor products out of the hands of minors, noting recent surveys that indicated an increase in vaping among Kitsap teens. Teachers have noticed more students bringing vapor devices to school, he said.

"Prevention is the best intervention," Leavell said.

Cynthia Briggs, a Kitsap resident and American Heart Association volunteer, said that even if the long-term effects of vaping aren't understood, inhaling any substance other than air into the lungs can be bad for heart health. Briggs worried acceptance of vaping would also encourage smoking.

"We don't want to see smoking re-normalized," she said.

NEXT STEPS


Kitsap Public Health District will hold additional public input workshops on the draft vaping ordinance on March 21 at Port Orchard City Hall and March 29 at Poulsbo City Hall. Both workshops begin at 6 p.m. A formal public hearing will be held later this year before the health board votes on the ordinance.

Additional information is available at kitsappublichealth.org/vaping.


About Tad Sooter


Tad Sooter covers business and health care for the Kitsap Sun, and writes the Minding Your Business blog. He is a 2007 graduate of the University of Montana School of Journalism.