Vaping is not fun in New York State.
That’s the basic gist of a new bill recently introduced by New York Democratic Rep. Linda Rosenthal. A.10713 would amend the state’s public health law to prohibit the sale of what Rosenthal calls recreational vapor products.
Last year, e-cig devices began to include digital screens that show how long the device’s battery will last. Within a few months, digital screens began to come with prepackaged video games. This caught the attention of two professors at the University of California, Riverside.
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Man Wong, lead author of the paper and a laboratory assistant to Prue Talbot, a professor at the university’s graduate school, said: “Our lab is excited about new devices, particularly e-cigarettes targeted to youth and young adults. “We are constantly monitoring the market.” . “One of these devices, the Craftbox V-Play, can run classic arcade games such as Pac-Man, Tetris, and F22.Other devices that we found alarming include: An e-cigarette with a digital game to encourage people to smoke, an e-cigarette that changes animation as the user smokes, an e-cigarette with built-in Bluetooth that can be customized with a personal photo, and a celebrity endorsement offering promotions. Examples include electronic cigarettes and trading cards.
Talbot and Wong believe new devices need to be closely monitored and regulated. They report that unlike previous versions of e-cigarettes, SmartVape preys on three potential addictions: nicotine addiction, gaming disorder, and screen time obsession. Talbot and Wong hope their research will prompt the Food and Drug Administration and other government agencies to regulate the sale of these devices.
Researchers have warned that these products could link nicotine addiction and gaming disorder because they are user-friendly and appealing to young people.
Of particular concern to researchers is the linkage of nicotine to existing youth behaviors, such as video gaming and screen time use, and the smart e-cigarette market, including among young people who have not previously been interested in nicotine products. This means that while increasing nicotine addiction, it could also strengthen nicotine addiction among current users. .
Rosenthal agrees. New York City councilors want New York state to act quickly to ban the sale of the devices before they gain a big foothold in New York. The bill could be considered in the state Legislature next year.
“Big Tobacco’s latest way to attract a new generation of customers is through “entertainment,” e-cigarettes equipped with “fun” and trendy features such as Bluetooth, Internet connectivity, and digital screens that display photos, animations, and virtual games.・Sales of vapor products. Play directly on your device,” Rosenthal wrote in his legislative justification. “These products attract users to their features and encourage them to continue purchasing vapes by ‘gamifying’ the experience and offering rewards to those who continue to use the product. Just as New York state has banned vaping products that appeal to children through flavors or flashy marketing, it also provides similar protections for products that aim to combine e-cigarettes with the functionality of video games or smartphones. It’s time to offer. The law would ban the sale of recreational vapor products in the state and create civil penalties for retailers found in violation. ”
The latest form of e-cigarettes comes as fewer high school students admit to using e-cigarettes than at any time since 2014, according to the latest federal statistics. The latest survey results show that e-cigarette use among teens has fallen from 7.7% in 2023 to less than 6% this year. More than 1.6 million students reported vaping in the last month, about one-third as many as in 2019, when underage vaping peaked. According to the Associated Press, the use of individual high-nicotine e-cigarettes like Juul.
Officials say this year’s decline is largely due to 500,000 fewer high school students reporting e-cigarette use in the last month. Vaping did not change among middle school students, but it remained uncommon in that group, at 3.5% of students.
“This is a monumental public health victory,” FDA Tobacco Director Brian King told reporters. “But we cannot rest on our laurels. We clearly have work to do to further reduce youth use.”
Officials at the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the large decline in e-cigarette use is due to recent age restrictions and increased restrictions on retailers and manufacturers, including Chinese e-cigarette companies, which have been selling e-cigarettes illegally in the United States for years. It blames aggressive enforcement.
The use of Elf Bars, the most popular e-cigarettes among teenagers, has prompted the FDA to issue warning letters to stores and distributors selling the brightly colored e-cigarettes, which come in flavors such as watermelon ice cream and peach mango. It decreased by 36% in response to the announcement. The brand is part of a wave of cheap, disposable e-cigarettes originating in China that has taken over much of the U.S. e-cigarette market. The FDA is trying to block such imports, but Elf Bar and other brands are trying to find workarounds by changing their names, addresses and logos.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Dunkirk planners provided information about a small business fund being established through the city.
LaBella Engineering Company has already sent a request for a new investigation to the North County Water District.