When Nevada’s Indoor Clean Air Act passed in 2006, banning smoking in most public places, it didn’t take into consideration a piece of technology that has revolutionized the way people can get their nicotine fix.
Electronic cigarettes use a flavored liquid heated by a battery and emit an odorless vapor cloud when used, hence the term ‘vaping.’ They can be used almost anytime, anywhere, and by anyone.
But that all may soon change, as legislators in many states, including California and Nevada, grapple over the issue of how to regulate them, and of course, how to tax them. Given the relative unfamiliarity with the electronic cigarettes, not much is known about the potential long-term health impacts of frequent use.
Health experts maintain that any use of nicotine is addictive, and a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine by several scientists from Portland State Universitymade headlines with claims that electronic cigarettes produce high levels of formaldehyde – a known carcinogen.
The 2015 Nevada Legislature gathered this week, and on the agenda is Governor Sandoval’s proposed tax hike on cigarettes – that could extend its reach to electronic cigarettes. For the first time, the vaping industry has representation in the legislature in the form of a lobbying group known as the Nevada Vaping Association.
The association points out that the highly publicized report studied the effects of vaping at extremely high voltages, that would nearly be impossible to reach by the average vape user. Furthermore, some have actually used vaping as a gateway to quit smoking traditional cigarettes.
Until the FDA passes a sweeping ruling concerning the electronic cigarettes, which may not be for several years to come, states are left to deal with the issue on their own.
GUESTS
Joe Iser, Chief health officer, Southern Nevada Health District
Bryan Bedera, Nevada Vaping Association
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Joe Iser, Chief health officer, Southern Nevada Health District
Bryan Bedera, Nevada Vaping Association