EVERETT — Between two sides that are often at odds, there may be room for detente.
The Snohomish Health District has proposed banning e-cigarette use in public places, mirroring the state law that bans smoking in restaurants, bars and workplaces.
During a meeting Tuesday at Everett Community College to hear from the public on the proposal, there seemed to be at least a few points of common ground between health advocates, e-cigarette users and store owners.
“It’s a qualified ‘yes,’?” said Joe Baba, of the proposal to ban vaping in public places. Baba owns retail stores in Snohomish County that sell vaping products.
The qualification, he said, is to continue to allow the public to sample e-cigarettes in stores selling vaping products to adults.
There currently are 83 retail stores in Snohomish County that sell vaping products, according to the Snohomish Health District.
Baba said that his stores have 8,000 customers who participate in a regular purchase program. If the regulation is expanded to ban sampling, “they would likely switch from vaping to cigarettes,” he said.
Matt Bradley, owner of Sky Vapor stores in Everett and Arlington, said he would like to see a regulation similar to one in Pierce County. It bans use of e-cigarettes in public places but allows adults to sample in stores that exclusively sell electronic smoking devices.
Travis Bain, who owns The Vape Tank NW in Lynnwood, said he also would like to see a regulation allowing adult customers to sample. Many smokers come to the shop wanting to quit but don’t know anything about vaping, “let alone how to use it,” he said.
Some, however, spoke out in favor of more steps to regulate the use and sale of e-cigarettes. They included State Rep. Gerry Pollet, D-Seattle, who advocated taxing e-cigarettes. “Make it more expensive to keep it out of the hands of children,” he said.
In a survey of Snohomish County students last year, 22 percent of high school seniors reported they currently use electronic cigarettes. That’s more than a four-fold increase over the number of seniors who said they used them in 2012, according to the Snohomish Health District.
The growth in the use of e-cigarettes among youth “is an astonishing epidemic and it’s growing unless we do something about it,” he said. “Vape shop folks focus on existing smokers,” Pollet said. “I think it’s vital we start with youth.”
After listening to the speakers, Dr. Gary Goldbaum, health officer for the Snohomish Health District, said there seems to be agreement even among vaping advocates “that we really do want to protect our youth. That’s at the heart of any ordinance we would be proposing.”
The health district said it wanted to wait until after it got reaction from the public to decide whether to go ahead with a specific proposal banning vaping in public.
Goldbaum said he also heard the message from vaping shop owners to allow adult customers to sample in their stores. “I think we are not that far apart,” he said.
A proposed regulation on vaping is now expected in October or November.
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com.
Weigh in
Comments on the proposed ban on the use of e-cigarettes in public areas can be sent to the Snohomish Health District at sipp@snohd.org or mailed to Snohomish Health District, Attn: SIPP Comments, 3020 Rucker Ave, Ste 306, Everett, WA 98201. Comments will be accepted through July 31. There’s also an online survey at: bit.ly/1J8ReZp.
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