Age rises for tobacco, vaping sales

When setting New Year’s resolutions, the 18 to 20 set should strongly consider kicking their smoking habit, as stores won’t be able to legally sell to them as of Jan. 1. That’s the day the age requirement for tobacco and vaping products will be raised from 18 to 21 in Washington.

But if you ask Joel Reeves, Spokane Regional Health District tobacco vapor product and marijuana specialist, the age requirement has already effectively increased with the passage of a federal spending bill on Dec. 20. The Food and Drug Administration affirmed this change, noting in a Dec. 21 tweet that it would provide additional details “as they become available.”

“Now they are going to have to get this messaging out, and they’re going to have to contact their local enforcement agency to start working to enforce this law,” Reeves said about the federal law. “It’s going to take some time for businesses to adjust to the sudden change in law.”

Ale Mo, a cashier at Spokane’s Hico Market, thinks the change is good. Mo said most people ages 18 to 20 come into Hico Market to purchase cigars, and he thinks fewer people will start smoking or vaping if it isn’t legal until they are 21.

But it won’t be the buyers who are penalized if they are caught with smoking products before they are old enough. It will be the stores selling those products.

“Current 18- to 20-year-olds, they will not be impacted legally by this law if they are caught in possession. It is not illegal,” Reeves said. “I’m not sure if this law will transform.”

Some have expressed concerns that young smokers will simply go to Idaho to purchase products they can’t buy legally in Washington. Those concerns were alleviated with the passage of the provisions in the federal spending bill.

Reeves emphasized that there are many cessation resources available for smokers and vapers young and old.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a hotline, (800) QUIT-NOW, and the Washington State Department of Health has partnered with 2Morrow Inc. to offer a vaping cessation app for teens and young adults.

“It’s free and it’s very intuitive, and it helps people stay quit as well,” Reeves said.

The Spokane Regional Health District runs the Done My Way program to help people quit smoking. The health district provides free nicotine replacement therapy, inclusing gum, lozenges and patches, to those uninsured or underinsured who attend Quit for Good, its free, four-week online smoking cessation course.

One impetus for the change in who stores can sell to is the popularity of vaping within the affected age group, Reeves said.

“The reason why we made this push is really in light of the vaping epidemic we’re facing, with currently up to one in three 12th-graders in Washington state” vaping, Reeves said. “On average, you’re getting 1.5 times as much nicotine per pop when compared to a regular cigarette. So we have a much more addictive product that we don’t know the long-term health consequences of.”

On Sept. 27, Gov. Jay Inslee issued an executive order banning the sale of flavored vaping products. The order expires Feb. 7. There has been talk of the ban being extended, and Reeves hopes it will.

“They will probably look at the data on purchasing of vapor products, especially infractions from school districts, and see if the ban had an intended effect,” Reeves said.