Taxation on vaping and increased taxation on other nicotine products is a priority for Governor Polis. On May 1, Governor Polis won approval in the state House and was given a hearing in the Senate all in the same day.
June 20, the Legislative Counsel Staff Non-partisan Services for Colorado's Legislature, published a memorandum discussing the issues related to electronic nicotine devices.
This memorandum gives us an overview of the Colorado laws and regulations on E-cigarettes. The Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), usage is constantly monitored by the national and state level. In the Colorado state survey of 2017, 26% of high school students reported the current use of e-cigs, which put Colorado at the highest usage of nicotine in the nation. The most commonly reported reason for vaping among young adults is because of family usage or simply the enjoying of the many flavors.
This memorandum also includes increasing the purchasing age from 18 to 21. The Colorado law restricts the purchasing of ENDS to 18 years or older already. A few Colorado towns have already implemented the higher purchasing age to 21 years, in order to purchase any tobacco products as well as electronic cigarettes. These towns in Colorado are, Aspen, Basalt, Carbondale, and Avon.
Another implementation on vaping is when Governor Polis signed the Colorado HB 1076, in May, amending the "Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act," This amendment adds the definition of electronic smoking devices (ESD), to all restricted smoking areas and postings of non- smoking areas in hotels and businesses.
Adding taxation and more restrictions on e-cigs will allow for less deaths and hospitalizations of individuals using these nicotine products. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there have been 33 reported deaths across the states from vaping and 2,290 lung injury cases from vaping have been reported as of November 20, 2019.
According to the Colorado Department of Public Health discusses the long term health issues related to the inhaled vapor e-cigs that could contain cancer - elements. Colorado alone has not had any recorded deaths from the vaping lung illness from e-cigs. But there has been around 10 reported lung related illnesses from vaping in Colorado. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has taken action to prevent a massive lung disease outbreak within the state with making this issue aware to the public and providing information on what to do if you have certain lung related symptoms. Colorado Department of Health is advising the public to stay away from any vaping products that contain THC in them as well as creating public educational campaigning to educate the general public about the dangers of vaping.
Work Cited:
“Vaping and Lung Illness.” Department of Public Health and Environment, 21 Oct. 2019, www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/vaping-lung-illness.
“Outbreak of Lung Injury Associated with the Use of E-Cigarette, or Vaping, Products.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 26 Nov. 2019, www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/severe-lung-disease.html.
Karlik, Michael. “Cigarette, Vaping Taxes Pass at Local Level.” Colorado Politics, 25 Nov. 2019, www.coloradopolitics.com/news/cigarette-vaping-taxes-pass-at-local-level/article_b99f057e-00b4-11ea-a5be-578eb61682f7.html.
Bacon, John. “Vaping-Related Illnesses Increase Again, but at a Slightly Slower Rate. At Least 33 Have Died.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 18 Oct. 2019, www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/10/17/vaping-related-deaths-and-injuries-rise-slower-rate-cdc-says/4007966002/.
Tabachnik, Sam. “Second Vape-Related Mystery Illness Confirmed in Colorado.” The Denver Post, The Denver Post, 30 Aug. 2019, www.denverpost.com/2019/08/29/vaping-illness-colorado-second-case-confirmed/.
Garcia, Nic. “Colorado Gov. Polis' Vaping Tax Moving Quickly through General Assembly.” The Denver Post, The Denver Post, 2 May 2019, www.denverpost.com/2019/05/01/vaping-tobacco-tax-colorado-senate/.
Rylie,
ReplyDeleteI think you did a nice job explaining the topic and how Governor Polis, the General Assembly and Colorado voters have each dealt with this issue. I did not know that this state had the highest use of nicotine in the country (at least in 2017). I agree that placing restrictions and taxes on e-cigs is a good step towards less deaths and hospitalizations concerning nicotine use. I like how you include both the political aspect of this issue as well as the public health side. Your maps and graphs are helpful visual and statistical aids that nicely reinforce your post. Really interesting subject!
Rylie,
ReplyDeleteI think you did a very good job of summarizing the current political situation regarding vaping in Colorado. Not only that, but you added some facts from the public health side of things as well which helped provide some insight as to why legislation concerning this issue has come up in recent years. I personally find the scariest aspect of vaping to be the unknown long-term effects and the belief that they possess cancer elements.
I think people are just now starting to realize the seriousness behind this massive problem, but I still find myself shocked at the levels of addiction and carelessness seen even here on campus with e-cigarettes. I know people that have been trying to quit vaping on-and-off since high school and have yet to do so because not only are they so clearly addicted but part of them just doesn't care about the side effects. Another frustrating aspect is that since there are no confirmed long-term effects, they just tell themselves that what they are doing is okay. I am very happy to see this preventative legislation being put in place and I only hope more of it is soon to come.
Good job! This is a well written and very interesting piece! Vaping is a very serious issue in Colorado as you stated! I think that the amount of lung disease, deaths, and hospitalization related to electronic smoking is insane and scary. The states actions are strict, but if kids are the primary people smoking from electronic vapes then there should be action done to protect them.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that one of the main reasons for vaping is enjoying the flavor. That is such an important factor that governments should focus on banning instead of taxation. I recently watched a city council meeting for the city of Fort Collins and one of the council members, Ken Summers, was arguing that we don't know off enough to ban flavors, but I think it's the complete opposite. Instead of punishing people that vape, try and get to the root of the problem, the why, which is the addicting flavor.
ReplyDeleteRylie, thanks for your post regarding the new trend of vaping and how the State of Colorado is handling the issue. As a member of the ASCSU Senate, I was able to here a presentation by some of our campus officials about how CSU as a state institution is going about handling the fairly new issue of vaping and how they are being pushed by the state government to implement the new vaping regulations. Which is why I really enjoyed reading your post about this topic. With that being said, I am not a cigarette smoker or a vape user and am usually all for regulating the industry. And although I do agree with the State's attempt to establish more nicotine taxes, I don't think CSU is going to be able to enforce and punish e-smokers for smoking in the "non-smoking" area's which is all of campus. Students already don't obey the no smoking rule with regular cigarettes so I doubt these new regulations will keep e-cigs off of campus at all. But I am happy that our government is seeking to make sure this industry is more regulated
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