Photo by Erin Nelson.
The city of Vestavia Hills works to eliminate underage vaping by entering House Bill 41.
After the state Legislature passed a bill aimed at keeping teens away from e-cigarette usage, city leaders in the greater Birmingham area are working together to address the issue in their respective cities.
Vestavia Hills City Council member Kimberly Cook was heavily involved in pushing for the passage of House Bill 41, which outlaws the advertisement of such products near schools or other areas where children are prevalent or advertising the products as a healthy alternative to smoking.
The bill also requires retailers to obtain a tobacco permit and post warning signs about the dangers of vaping, prohibit the sale or transfer of vaping products to minors, require the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board to regulate sales like sales of tobacco products and prohibit the use of the products around minors.
Sarah Finnegan
Cook.
Cook is part of a “councilor’s roundtable,” bringing together councilors from other nearby cities to discuss pertinent issues. Cook said from that roundtable arose the desire for cities, including Vestavia, to pass resolutions supporting HB41. That work, she said, made a difference in getting the bill through both the House and the Senate.
Cook is now working with a lobbyist to help push federal legislation through the U.S. Congress, which would send an additional $100 million to the Office on Smoking and Health to research vaping and its effects. Similar legislation would also increase the age at which someone can purchase tobacco to 21, which includes e-cigarettes.
“We were really encouraged [by the passage of HB41],” Cook said.
Once the state bill takes effect, which Cook said should be in January 2020, the required warning signs and permits will give cities will have a better grasp of where minors are buying e-cigarettes, so they can monitor the ever-growing epidemic, Cook said.
By supporting one another in passing resolutions to support the state legislation and in ongoing work to combat the problem, the cities are helping close the loopholes that make it easier for kids to obtain e-cigarettes, Cook said.
“We’ve got to plug all the rat holes,” Cook said. “If you plug one and not another, kids will go there.”
Working together gives cities courage to pass similar legislation, Cook said, despite pushback from the tobacco industry.
Children, Cook said, are “tremendously influenced” by e-cigarette usage and the marketing of it, particularly with the flavored pods.
The company JUUL, which makes a popular vaping device, previously said in a statement they were also committed to ending youth use of their products. The company had pulled some flavored pods from retailers last year.
“We cannot fulfill our mission to provide the world’s one billion adult smokers with a true alternative to combustible cigarettes if youth use continues unabated,” a JUUL Labs spokesperson said. “We suspended the distribution of certain flavored JUUL pods to traditional retail stores as of Nov. 17, 2018, strengthened the age verification of our industry leading e-commerce site, exited our U.S. Facebook and Instagram accounts and are developing new technology to further limit youth access and use. In addition, we strongly support raising the minimum purchase age for cigarettes, tobacco and vaping products to 21. We look forward to working with lawmakers at the federal, state and local levels to achieve this end.”
Other cities are taking similar efforts to combat the rise of youth vaping, as well as the ongoing battle with regular tobacco use.
In Hoover, council member Casey Middlebrooks, who works at Spain Park High School, said vaping is definitely a problem in Hoover City Schools, and despite what JUUL says, the products seem targeted toward minors, something the newly-passed legislation aims to correct.
Photo by Jon Anderson
Hoover council 10-1-18
Middlebrooks.
The city of Hoover doesn’t have a comprehensive clean-air ordinance. Middlebrooks had planned to bring an ordinance, provided by the Alabama Lung Association, to the council for a vote but ended up pulling it due to other council members stating it was “too much government overreach,” Middlebrooks said.
The current ordinance states a hotel cannot have more than 25 percent of its rooms allow smoking, but it does not have any regulations for restaurants or bars. Middlebrooks said he’s only aware of one bar and one hotel that allow smoking. However, e-cigarette usage is not regulated, and his ordinance would include it, which was the main reason he wanted it passed.
Middlebrooks said Hoover is considering adding institutional zoning for city property, and it’s possible all tobacco use will be banned under that zoning.
As far as his clean-air ordinance, Middlebrooks said he doesn’t expect it to be passed this summer, but it could be passed in the fall.
In Homewood, council member Jennifer Andress said the city utilizes the educational reach of the Safe and Healthy Homewood Coalition and, like other cities, passed a resolution in support of HB41.
Andress.
“It’s just a no-brainer,” Andress said.
While Homewood has a clean-air ordinance that includes e-cigarettes, along with Mountain Brook and Vestavia, Andress said it’s important to educate students on the dangers of vaping. While marketed as a “healthier” alternative to those addicted to regular tobacco, it’s still possible to become addicted to nicotine in e-cigarettes.
Mountain Brook council member Alice Womack agreed with Cook and said the similar resolutions passed by different cities “put weight” behind HB41, leading to its passage.
Lexi Branta Coon
Womack.
Just like other cities, Womack said Mountain Brook has seen its fair share of vaping problems in schools. Next month, the city will host an event to educate parents and other residents on how to deal with the threat.
Mountain Brook will host the next Freedom From Addiction Coalition breakfast on Sept. 20, from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at Canterbury United Methodist Church, with the program centered around the dangers of vaping.
