artcile from Utah Deseret News

[Bill Godshall]

I had an e-mail exchange with Wendy Leonard, the Deseret News reporter who wrote that article.

The Utah Health Dept and/or the PTA deceived Leonard to believe that the Utah Health Department couldn't enforce the 2010 law (banning e-cig sales to minors under 19) unless/until the Utah Clean Indoor Air Act was amended to ban the use of e-cigarettes in workplaces (which is the bill they were lobbying for when claiming that youth were using e-cigarettes).

I sent Leonard the copy of the 2010 law, which authorizes the Utah Health Dept to enforce it.

The 2010 Utah law banning the sale of e-cigs to minors under 19 (and authorizing the Health Dept to enforce the law) is at
Utah Legislature HB0088

The Utah Governor signed the law banning e-cigarette sales to minors on March 23, 2010
H.B. 88 Bill Documents - 2010 General Session

Leonard also told me that the Health Dept and/or PTA acknowledged that the 2011 survey didn't contain any info on e-cigarettes, and she said that the Health Dept told her that it plans to make the data available in the future.

Hopefully, Leonard's next article on this issue will correct/clarify some of the misleading information in her article, and hopefully it will criticize the Health Dept and/or PTA for misleading her about the Health Dept's authority to enforce the law ban e-cig sales to minors.

I also plan to send Leonard some of the many false and fear mongering claims made by the Health Dept, PTA and other prohibitionists about e-cigarettes and other smokefree tobacco products during the past two years.

 

[Petrodus]

Kudos
Would say more but would be just repeating what you reported

 

[jtpjc]

Misleading the press? At least you won't have to dig your own grave, they will do it for you.

 

[Placebo Effect]

Possibly as a result of Bill's e-mails sent to the journalist, the Deseret News piece has a new, more accurate headline

Utah teens are experimenting with e-cigarettes | Deseret News

 

[Vocalek]

Perhaps we should track down contact information for the misguided (or truth twisting?) folks quoted in the story and send them comments directly. Any volunteers?

 

[Placebo Effect]

The Utah PTA posted this on their Facebook

We apopreciate the comments that we recieved about e-cigarettes. Thanks for taking the time to give us your input. We think that there were some misunderstandings that came from the article that was published in the Deseret News and the piece done on KSL. Here is the Utah PTA official comments about the e-cigarette legislation and the issue in general:

White Paper on e-cigarettes

*Utah PTA has a focus on education however, we are also about children's issues that affect the health, safety and welfare of all children.

* The Utah PTA is keeping an eye on the fate of House Bill 245, which could amend the Indoor Clean Air Act to prohibit the use of hookah pipes and e-cigarettes in public places. We have not taken an official position on this bill at the present time however, we are educating ourselves about the issue and possible effects on children.

*The legislation regarding e-cigarettes is on hold. Utah PTA is following all discussion and reviewing current health information about these products.

*E-cigarettes are on our priority list this year because parents have indicated that they have concerns and unanswered questions and they want to make sure that children will be protected in the end.

*One the biggest concern Utah PTA has addressed and will continue to address is the fact that e-cigarettes do not have an off switch, even with an on and off switch, safety switches ect., Utah PTA would still have a similar concern due to how quickly children can learn to use switches. If an e-cigarette is accidently left on a restaurant table or falls out of a purse or pocket in the mall, ect. a child may have access to the e-cigarette and the consequences for the child could be devastating.

*Because there are still so many unanswered questions about e-cigarettes we feel that it is important that we continue to follow this issue closely. From past experience, we can assume that there are probably some hidden consequences that we're not aware of yet and we will be seeking as complete of information as possible.

* As we gain more definitive and conclusive information and evidence about the effects and possible ramifications of e-cigarettes we will educate our parents.

 

[Spazmelda]

*One the biggest concern Utah PTA has addressed and will continue to address is the fact that e-cigarettes do not have an off switch, even with an on and off switch, safety switches ect., Utah PTA would still have a similar concern due to how quickly children can learn to use switches. If an e-cigarette is accidently left on a restaurant table or falls out of a purse or pocket in the mall, ect. a child may have access to the e-cigarette and the consequences for the child could be devastating.

WTF does this even mean? It makes no sense. Lots of things could fall out of pockets and purses that we might not want children to have. I don't get it.

 

[LibertariaNate]

WTF does this even mean? It makes no sense. Lots of things could fall out of pockets and purses that we might not want children to have. I don't get it.

Good on them for coming up with a new spin. At least I hadn't heard that one before.

 

[Placebo Effect]

Good on them for coming up with a new spin. At least I hadn't heard that one before.

This is a concern shared almost exclusively by Utah residents. The only other person I've ever seen bring up the on/off switch "issue" is our obsessed commenter friend electricman.

Last year, Rep. Ray's failed bill would have banned the sale of e-cigarettes without an on/off switch.

 

[LibertariaNate]

Then all I can say is "wow" and shake my head.

 

[Ande]

An on/off switch?

I'm not sure what this means. My ecig is currently off. If it were on, it would have burned a hole in my pocket by now...

Of course, if it were left on for long, this would have ruined it, rendering it harmless to children and useless to me. I might find this consequence devastating, but I don't think this is what they meant.

Best,
Ande

 

[Petrodus]

The Utah PTA posted this on their Facebook
* As we gain more definitive and conclusive information and evidence about the effects
and possible ramifications of e-cigarettes we will educate our parents.

No they wont

 

[Crumpet]

Who gives a flying frick? I'm a grown woman and I'm tired of being told that I should only have access to things that are deemed appropriate for 12 yr olds. That must be why it's so hard for me to get my hands on cigarettes, alcohol, porn, guns, and.......oh wait, nevermind.

 

[Petrodus]

Who gives a flying frick? I'm a grown woman and I'm
tired of being told that I should only have access to things that are deemed
appropriate for 12 yr olds. That must be why it's so hard for me to get my hands
on cigarettes, alcohol, porn, guns, and.......oh wait, nevermind.

Very funny

Personally, I no longer care what others might say or think about me vaping.
To me they don't even exist...However, it ticks me off how many are effected
by what others say to those who vape.

We were a tight knit group when we smoked...
We now are a tight knit group of those who vape


Maybe its in part due to my age coupled with my Type-A personality...
Get in my face about vaping... Lets Dance

 

[kristin]

"Nearly 8 percent of Utah's sixth-, eighth-, tenth- and twelfth-graders
reported they had experimented with e-cigarettes and 3 percent had
used them in the past 30 days..."

Kind of shuts down the wide spread "rumor" that E-cigarettes
are something few have ever heard about

I'm assuming you're being sarcastic, because the fact that 92% of kids hadn't ever tried e-cigs and 97% hadn't used them in the past 30 days (keep in mind "used" = even one puff) SUPPORTS the "rumor" that e-cigarettes ARE "something few youth have ever heard about."

 

[Bill Godshall]

Greg wrote that the Utah PTA posted something new on their Facebook page that included the following:

* The Utah PTA is keeping an eye on the fate of House Bill 245, which could amend the Indoor Clean Air Act to prohibit the use of hookah pipes and e-cigarettes in public places. We have not taken an official position on this bill at the present time however, we are educating ourselves about the issue and possible effects on children.

If PTA hasn't taken an official position on HB 245 (the bill that would ban indoor e-cigarette use by adults, and would ban hookah bars), then why did they lobby legislators to enact HB 245, and why did they tell the news media that banning e-cig use was one of their top legislative priorities?
Utah PTA aims to snuff out electronic cigarettes | ksl.com
Utah teens are experimenting with e-cigarettes | Deseret News

And why did the PTA grossly misrepresent the findings of the 2011 youth survey, which found that Utah youth have the lowest tobacco usage rates in the US (less than half the national average) See chart on page 9 at
http://www.dsamh.utah.gov/docs/State of Utah Profile Report.pdf
and that far fewer Utah 12th graders have used e-cigarettes and smokeless tobacco than have used cigarettes, hookah and cigars.
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...e-ecigs-definition-smoking-4.html#post5124130

 

[Bill Godshall]

Greg,
It would be helpful if you or Jacinda sends Wendy Leonard the PTA's new posting on Facebook, and highlight:

* The Utah PTA is keeping an eye on the fate of House Bill 245, which could amend the Indoor Clean Air Act to prohibit the use of hookah pipes and e-cigarettes in public places. We have not taken an official position on this bill at the present time however, we are educating ourselves about the issue and possible effects on children.

Also, please post the weblink of their Facebook posting (if available, as I don't do Facebook).

 

[Bill Godshall]

Two days ago (on the second posting of this thread), Petrodus posted the following quote, which I presume came from Wendy Leonard's article in the Deseret News

"Nearly 8 percent of Utah's sixth-, eighth-, tenth- and twelfth-graders
reported they had experimented with e-cigarettes and 3 percent had
used them in the past 30 days..."

But at
Utah teens are experimenting with e-cigarettes | Deseret News
it now states

"Nearly 8 percent of Utah's twelfth-graders reported they had experimented with e-cigarettes and 3 percent had used them in the past 30 days,"

Although they didn't change the title of Wendy's article (as Greg stated in the last thread), they apparently corrected the inaccurate claim that a similar percentage of 6th, 8th and 10th graders had used e-cigarettes as did 12th graders (most of whom are 18 years old).

 

[LibertariaNate]

Although they didn't change the title of Wendy's article (as Greg stated in the last thread), they apparently corrected the inaccurate claim that a similar percentage of 6th, 8th and 10th graders had used e-cigarettes as did 12th graders (most of whom are 18 years old).

Utah law requires one to be 19 years or older to use/purchase tobacco.

 

[Petrodus]

I'm assuming you're being sarcastic, because the fact that 92% of kids hadn't ever tried e-cigs and 97% hadn't used them in the past 30 days (keep in mind "used" = even one puff) SUPPORTS the "rumor" that e-cigarettes ARE "something few youth have ever heard about."

What I said was: "Kind of shuts down the wide spread "rumor" that E-cigarettes
are something few have ever heard about."

Was I being a little sarcastic ... Of course

Just referring to the obvious...Even the kids are aware of what an e-cigarette is
They don't have to "Try one" to be aware of what they are.