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Debate over e-cigarettes dominates Indiana legislative hearing

Contentious testimony centered on whether e-cigarettes, vaping products should be subject to more regulation and taxes.

Shari Rudavsky
IndyStar
Josh Maynard, an employee at Indy Vapor Shop, takes a break to smoke his e-cigarette.

Tobacco is bad for you. That was the one thing on which the elected officials and speakers at the legislative committee's public hearing could agree.

Now the question becomes: What is the best public policy to start eating away at the state’s high smoking rate of nearly 23 percent?

Some came to Tuesday's hearing to oppose extending the state’s no-smoking law to bars, casinos and other places that admit only adults, saying this would have drastic economic effects. Many public health officials, however, argue that such a move would help discourage smoking and protect nonsmokers from secondhand effects.

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Other public health advocates argued for an increase in the tax on cigarettes, a move they said also could cut smoking rates and prevent youths from picking up the habit.

But perhaps the most contentious testimony centered on whether e-cigarettes and vaping products should be subject to more regulation and taxes.

Proponents argued that such products should be seen as a healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes.

“Every time a smoker switches to these products, the public health benefits,” said Greg Conley, president of the American Vaping Association. “It’s not the nicotine that kills; it is the smoke.”

E-cigarettes can even be seen as a smoking cessation tool, said Shadi Khoury, chief executive officer of Indy E-Cigs, who testified that he had quit smoking two years ago and now vapes exclusively.

Agreeing that these products can prove instrumental in helping people quit, Evan McMahon, Hoosier Vapers chairman, said that should persuade the legislature not to place additional taxes on them.

“Instead of adding a tax, the state of Indiana should be embracing and rewarding people for switching to vaping,” he said.

Opponents of e-cigarettes point to statistics that show teens have embraced these products, which come in flavors such as bubble gum and candy cane.

But public health advocates questioned such assertions, saying that the scientific jury is still out on whether e-cigarettes pose any health risks of their own.

“Let me be clear. These products are not approved cessation devices, and there’s a lack of evidence to date demonstrating that e-cigarette products are safe,” said Brianna Herndon of the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network.

Much of the debate focused on the content of such products. People who vape can choose how much nicotine they consume or opt for none at all. Nicotine, the e-cigarette proponents stressed, is derived from tobacco but not synonymous with it.

Nicotine is mixed with other ingredients, such as flavorings and propylene glycol, to make the liquid for vaping, sometimes referred to as e-juice.

Because nothing burns when a person vapes and no smoke is released, these products should not fall under the same category as tobacco and do not carry the same health risks and carcinogens, proponents argued.

“It’s like calling pizza a vegetable because it has tomatoes in it,” said McMahon, who also likened it to calling Red Bull coffee because it contains caffeine.

Despite the lack of clear scientific knowledge about the long-term health effects of e-cigarettes, their use has skyrocketed in recent years among adults and youths, public health advocates testified.

Study: More Indiana teens smoking e-cigarettes

From 2011 to 2014, use of e-cigarettes among youths increased by 800 percent, Herndon said. Nearly 25 percent of Indiana high school seniors surveyed in a recent study said they had used e-cigarettes in the past month, more than had smoked traditional tobacco.

These statistics suggest that e-cigarettes should be treated like tobacco.

“We don’t feel the public should have to be the guinea pig,” said Traci Kennedy of Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights. “We don’t feel the public should be testing the product.”

Call Star reporter Shari Rudavsky at (317) 444-6354. Follow her on Twitter: @srudavsky.