Meridian Takes Action Against E-Cigarettes

Recently, the Meridian City Council voted unanimously to bring consistency to our no smoking policy in City parks and public facilities, such as Meridian City Hall, to include e-cigarettes. There has been much debate among public health officials regarding e-cigarette use; the City of Meridian felt that smoking cigarettes – of any type – should be treated the same. In case you’re unfamiliar with e-cigarettes, they look very similar to a normal cigarette, cigar, or pipe. However, the product is divided into three sections – a cartridge containing a liquid nicotine solution, an atomizer which is attached to the cartridge and creates vapor, and a slim tube-shaped piece which holds the battery and LED light that comes on during inhalation. Instead of smoke from burning tobacco, e-cigarette users breathe in water vapor with nicotine and flavorings, which enters their blood stream through the lungs. Currently, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not exercised the same oversight on e-cigarettes as it does on the traditional cigarette market. Last month, 40 U.S. state attorney generals, including Idaho’s Lawrence Wasden, wrote to the FDA urging immediate regulation of the sale and advertising of e-cigarettes. The FDA is set to decide if they’ll place restrictions on e-cigarettes in the coming weeks. According to public health officials, a growing number of people – including an alarming number of young adults and teens – are regularly using or experimenting with e-cigarettes. In fact, Meridian Police officers working in our middle and high schools say the use of “e-cigs” has skyrocketed among local students, even though it is illegal to sell them to children in Idaho. Over the past several years, both the Mayor’s Anti-Drug Coalition and the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council have worked hard to discourage our community’s youth from smoking. We are concerned this trendy new device might reverse the progress we’ve made in reducing the use of cigarettes particularly among our youth. We felt it was important to have a consistent policy and message regarding our no smoking policy. By having healthy places for everyone to enjoy and limiting smoking to parking lots, we can help ensure that smoking is not the example we set for our community’s children.