Capitol panel hears about vaping dangers

Lawmakers on Thursday were told about the benefits and harms of vaping.

The issue was discussed during an interim study at the capitol. Sen. J.J. Dossett, D-Owasso, requested the study.

Dossett anticipates introducing legislation next session aimed at reducing youth access to vaping and electronic cigarettes.

A growing number of teenagers are using the product, but adults have used it to quit smoking, the panel was told.

Some expressed concern that vaping among teens can lead to a dangerous addiction.

The study could lead to additional regulations for the industry. Vaporizers and electronic cigarettes are commonly used to deliver nicotine.

The devices allow the user to determine how much nicotine, if any, is consumed.

Kim Paxton of Shawnee Public Schools told the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services that students can easily purchase the products online.

They are being promoted on social media and come in a variety of flavors that attract teenagers, she said.

Christin Kirchenbauer, tobacco use prevention manager with the Oklahoma State Department of Health, said that 90 percent of adults who smoke started before they left their teens.

One in five adults in Oklahoma smoke, although the number of smokers is declining, she said.

One in six high school students in Oklahoma uses electronic cigarettes or vaporizers, she said.

Electronic cigarettes are not safe, she said, adding the long-term effects of use are not known.

“This is a youth access issue,” said John Woods, Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust executive director. The group works to prevent smoking and provides smoking cessation services, among other things.

Gregory Conley is president of the American Vaping Association.

He said nicotine replacement therapies, such as gum and lozenges, are not working.

But vaping has helped a number of adults quit smoking, he said.

Vaping is much less harmful than smoking, he said.

“Our number one goal is getting people off of cigarettes,” he said.