Local stores that sell e-cigarettes have processes in place to comply with state law, which is largely focused on preventing the sale of the product to people who are underage.
Smoke n’ Peace, a locally owned smokeshop at 421 Wabash Ave., has a big “stop” sign displayed on its door that informs people that they have to be 18 or older with a valid ID even to enter the store. Indiana law prohibits the sale of tobacco or electronic cigarettes to persons under 18.
“You have to be 18 to be in the store,” manager Stacey Christjansen told the Tribune-Star inside the store on Friday. “You have to be 18 to use our products so if you’re not 18, we don’t even want you in the store.”
“You can’t even be in the premises without an ID, just like a liquor store or a bar.”
Other stores, such as the Vapor Bank, 2801 S. Third St., have the same restrictions and similar signage.
State officials on Friday announced that a new bill to be considered by lawmakers in the new legislative session will include e-cigarettes restrictions and new taxes. In addition to the new taxes on the devices, the proposed legislation would require stores selling electronic cigarettes to be licensed. It will also include e-cigarettes in Indiana’s statewide smoking ban and require child-resistant packaging for the containers holding the nicotine-laced liquid that’s vaporized inside e-cigarettes.
Smoke n’ Peace managers said the proposal, if approved, may affect their operations only slightly because they already implement some of the restrictions on their own. For example, the “e-liquids” that they sell, which are put inside the e-cigarettes, are already in child-proof packaging.
“We were, sort of, proactive,” Christjansen said. The tax component may be the biggest effect on the store, she added.
Other groups in the community have efforts to inform the public about e-cigarettes and the potential effects on young people.
Libby Ray, coordinator of the Vigo County Tobacco Prevention and Cessation, said the program’s efforts regarding e-cigarettes mainly focus on educating the public.
“It is still an emerging topic,” Ray said, adding that some research have been done on it but “there’s a lot more research that needs to be done.” The initial studies have indicated there may be concerns about these battery-operated products, she said.
“The idea is being promoted that these are harmless, and we don’t really know that yet,” Ray said in an interview Friday at her office at Booker T. Washington Community Center. The program is run under Chances and Services for Youth, a non-profit.
There are many unknowns about e-cigarettes, and the product is currently neither regulated nor approved as a cessation device, Ray said.
“We do know ... that the number of middle and high school students who have reported using electronic cigarettes has tripled in the last few years. It doubled between 2011 and 2012, and it tripled between 2011 and 2013,” Ray said.
While some chemicals in regular cigarettes may not be included in e-cigarettes, it may still be possible that kids are getting some amount of nicotine from the liquids due to lack of regulation. Nicotine is known to be an addictive drug that can cause harm to people, especially adolescents, she said.
While state law does not allow minors to purchase tobacco and e-cigarettes, somehow, they’re able to get it through online purchases or other means, Ray said.
“We would encourage people obviously to quit tobacco altogether or not start,” Ray said. There are other forms of nicotine replacement therapy that can be obtained, she added.
“Ideally, we would love to see a tobacco-free generation. We would love to see young people just avoid tobacco altogether,” Ray said.
That may still be a long-term goal, but progress are already being made toward it, she added.
In the meantime, regarding e-cigarettes, “We just want to make sure that people have enough information to make an informed decision,” she said.