E-cigarettes and their restricted use in Yavapai County and around the globe are tempered more by the unknown than what research and other fact-finding officially has proven. Former tobacco consumers praise vaping for helping them quit, even as lawmakers debate risks to public health, medical/insurance costs and regulating ingredients and sales.
The challenge dates to 2003, when a Chinese pharmacist invented and patented a battery-operated and cigarette-simulating device to heat and vaporize e-liquid, or juice, made from flavorings, propylene glycol, extra additives and nicotine levels touted as 10 times lower than traditional cigarettes.
It took 40 years to realize the full impact of nicotine inhalation on smokers and those around them, experts note, so this new $5 billion a year e-cigarette industry might require clouds of testimony before the jury is in.
Meanwhile, lawmakers’ concerns about health effects, a potential resurgence in the popularity of smoking, curiosity among young people, air quality impairment and lack of regulatory oversight have spurred e-cigarette constraints worldwide.
Yavapai County Prohibition
The Yavapai County Board of Supervisors voted in mid-December to prohibit e-cigarette usage in county buildings and vehicles, effective immediately. Arizona’s indoor workplaces and public venues, including restaurants and bars, were mandated smoke-free from tobacco in May 2007. Selling e-cigarettes to anyone under 18 years of age has been illegal since 2013 statewide, but that evidently has not stopped young people from obtaining the devices, to the dismay of county officials.
“Many times when policies get revised, it’s from things that have come up and complaints,” said Wendy Ross, Yavapai County’s director of human resources. The county’s prohibition tracks with a presentation about e-cigarettes to the board of supervisors.
Sharmel Jordan, health education coordinator for Yavapai County Community Health Department (YCCHD), discusses e-cigarettes and county policies. “Prescott has very clean air and is one of the top 10 places in the country for clean air. People don’t know enough about what’s in e-cigarettes. They think it’s just vapor, but it’s not.”
Some opponents say metals, such as tin, and other toxic and/or carcinogenic materials are released in the vapor.
Health Perspective
“It’s a health perspective,” Jordan said. “There really hasn’t been enough research. [E-cigarettes] have not been out as long as regular cigarettes and tobacco. [Vaping] is not regulated. Nobody knows exactly how much [nicotine] they are getting and what will happen in the long run. We don’t know what’s in it. It makes more sense not to inhale it.”
The presentation referenced a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study reporting a tripling between the years 2011 and 2013 of e-cigarette use among young people who had never smoked a regular cigarette.
“The consensus was that there were enough complaints about them,” said Ross. “We don’t allow regular smoking. We believe there are harmful effects [of e-cigarettes, so it was decided to] ban them from buildings and cars.”
The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) estimates that 1.14 million Arizonans (17 percent) use tobacco. Among Yavapai County residents, 19.3 percent (41,039 people) smoked in 2012, with nearly 12 percent smoking daily. About seven percent, or 2,914 county residents, have used e-cigarettes.
Users and Retailers
Royce Taghon, a former paramedic and 20-year smoker, also is lead singer for the local band Voodoo Sex Cult. Taghon’s music and the band were an impetus for quitting tobacco. He explained that switching eight months ago has made running in the gym easier, along with enhancing his vocal range and ability to hold notes longer while performing with the band.
“I don’t wake up coughing,” he said. “I never have a sore throat anymore. If I vape in the house or car, there’s no residue or after-smell. I never smoked cigarettes or cigars in the house or car. Even when I was a smoker, I was glad when they took it out of bars. For years I was a bartender. People blowing smoke in your face: it’s just not very appealing.”
More than 250 different e-cigarettes currently are on the market, with 70 percent of Arizona stores selling them, the Arizona Department of Health Services reports. Quad Cities’ retailers include JVAPES in Prescott and Prescott Valley.
The Prescott JVAPES Lounge offers e-cigarettes, juice, repairs and replacement parts, and “cooks” its own branded juice, measuring, logging and ensuring “accuracy” of the final product. The firm also has implemented safeguards in store and online to prevent sales to minors.
“People come here every day looking to get off cigarettes,” said JVAPES E-Liquid spokesman Brian Moss, who estimates that 99 percent of clients are looking for “a safer alternative. We help them with the whole transition. They have to want to quit.”
John Fisher, one of the co-owners of JVAPES, says that he and others started vaping to quit smoking, not as a method to smoke everywhere.
”It doesn’t bother us that the county has decided not to permit vaping inside offices and county vehicles,” Moss said. “It’s their choice. We don’t feel it will hurt our business or rapport around town. We are providing [e-cigarettes] as a service, not to [tick] people off.”
Positive Change?
Taghon said he has not “suffered any kind of side effects… I’m not saying it’s 100 percent safe. I really don’t know. But from my [perspective], it has been a huge milestone in not smoking and making some sort of positive change in my life.”
The American Lung Association identifies seven medications approved by the FDA for helping smokers quit tobacco. E-cigarettes are not among them.
“I have had the most success with vapor,” Taghon said. “I tried gum and the patch. One time, my doctor prescribed Chantix. I had horrible nightmares. It made me feel sick. I told the doctor it was not working and threw it away. Vaping has been a great stepping stone for my health and quitting smoking.”
YCCHD Tobacco Cessation Specialist Julie “Rocky” Higgins, herself a former smoker and now cancer survivor, has been a respiratory therapist at Yavapai Regional Medical Center (YRMC) for almost 30 years and offers free “Smokestoppers” sessions four times a year, six classes each, at YRMC Prescott. From the seven years she smoked between ages 14 and 21, Higgins says that her body had learned how to make cancer cells in her vocal cords and breast.
“Most clients that enroll with me usually have tried everything else and not been successful,” she explained. “In this session, several have the e-cigarettes, but either they didn’t like the taste or felt it didn’t work… I have never met someone who claims to have quit on the e-cigarettes. Many believe they aren’t smokers anymore, which is a misconception… I usually don’t encourage e-cigarette use while attempting to quit because it reinforces the hand to mouth action, which we want to stop. It triggers the thought of cigarettes and smoking. But, I will work with whatever the client needs to be successful.” QCBN
For Smokestopper session scheduling, call 928-442-5572, or log on to www.yavapaihealth.com/?page_id=1285. Free phone counseling and information also are available from the Arizona Smokers’ Helpline at 800-556-6222 or www.ashline.org.
By Sue Marceau
Quad Cities Business News
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