The Naperville City Council is scheduled to meet on at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 26, 2015, to talk about a proposal for more regulations on tobacco products, which will include more than just cigarettes. This new proposal will widen the definition of tobacco products and may include electronic cigarettes.
Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, are becoming a popular trend across the United States. According to Nature, an international weekly journal of science, in 2014 there were an estimated 2 million users of e-cigarettes in the United States.
An e-cigarette is a battery-powered device that heats up liquid nicotine solution that becomes an inhalable vapor. It does light up like a regular cigarette at the end and still contains nicotine. Due to the nicotine still being present in the device, it can become addictive and people could have withdrawal symptoms like a smoker trying to quit with regular cigarettes according to WebMD.
Although some city council members expressed their discomfort with increasing the purchasing age of e-cigarettes and prohibiting minors from possessing them, other members feel differently. The Naperville Sun said, if the council were to pass the new modifications, then the sales of e-cigarettes would be restricted to buyers who are 18 years or older. Basically, no person 17-years-old or younger could posses an e-cigarette and the law will line up with the purchasing of other tobacco products as well.
E-cigarettes are becoming a common trend among middle school and high school students. The U.S. News reported on April 15, that the use of e-cigarettes among high school students has increased from 4.5 percent in 2013 to 13.4 percent in 2014. Middle school students using e-cigarettes has also increased from 1.1 percent in 2013 to 3.9 percent.
Despite there being no toxic chemicals in e-cigarettes that exist in regular cigarettes, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recorded that there are still side effects that come with e-cigarette use including, “hospitalization for illnesses such as pneumonia, congestive heart failure, disorientation, seizure, hypotension, and other health problems.”
If the Naperville City Council does adopt the new policy on widening the tobacco laws to include e-cigarettes then several changes will occur. According to the Naperville Sun, retailers in Naperville who sell e-cigarettes will have to have a tobacco dealer’s license, with an annual cost of $200, and prohibit sales to anyone under 18-years-old. However, the possession of e-cigarettes by minors will not be outlawed and the policy will not address the use of alternative nicotine products in public places, indoor or outdoor.
The council agreed to look over the matter for about two months in order to allow the new members to address it, because numerous city council members were replaced after last month’s elections. Now that the two month mark has passed, it will be interesting to see how the council votes.
