Tag: Ohio

  • Ohio Gov. has Until Jan. 3 to Sign Local Vape Law Ban

    Ohio Gov. has Until Jan. 3 to Sign Local Vape Law Ban

    Credit: SeanPavonePhoto

    New e-cigarette legislation in the U.S. state of Ohio is awaiting a decision by the state’s governor, Mike DeWine. The law would ban any local jurisdiction from implementing tobacco laws that are more strict than state laws.

    “We are kind of sitting on the edge of our seats waiting,” said Dr. Angelica Hardee, vice president of community impact for the Greater Cincinnati Heart Association.

    DeWine appears primed to veto a bill just passed by the state legislature that would prohibit cities like Columbus from regulating vaping and other tobacco products.

    Lawmakers wrote House Bill 513 to ease burdens on wholesale tobacco, Ohio’s fourth largest source of tax revenue. However, its fate hinges on an amendment that invites debate on freedom and health.

    “The issue of home rule is very, very important,” DeWine said last week during an interview with WCPO 9 News, content partners of the Journal-News.

    The cities of Cincinnati, Norwood, Hamilton and Middletown have stronger tobacco policies than the state.

    Supporters include the Ohio Wholesale Marketers Association. The group’s executive director, Beth Wymer, told WCPO 9 News that without uniform tobacco regulation across the state, buyers will purchase more tobacco products from unregulated sellers and in neighboring states, which hurts Ohio’s tax revenue, Wymer said.

    “Do we want Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Kenton, Bellefontaine, Findlay saying, ‘Listen, just like the mayor of New York did, we’re going to get rid of the Big Gulp,’” Ohio House Rep. Jon Cross of District 83 asked in session two weeks ago. “‘We’re going to get rid of the Big Gulp. No 32-ounce cokes.’ This provision talks about the tobacco side of it.”

    Without tipping his hand, DeWine told WCPO 9 News last week that allowing cities home rule is important but different with tobacco because of its impact.

    “Sure it’s an individual choice (to smoke),” DeWine said during the interview last week. “No one is telling you you can’t smoke. But the cost to you as a taxpayer for paying for people on Medicaid who have cancer or have other problems because of smoking is in the hundreds of hundreds of millions of dollars each year. So it co

  • Ohio Governor Expected to Veto ‘No Flavor Bans’ Bill

    Ohio Governor Expected to Veto ‘No Flavor Bans’ Bill

    Credit: Andy Dean

    It doesn’t look good. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine appears primed to veto a bill just passed by the state legislature that would prohibit cities like Columbus from regulating vaping and other tobacco products.

    DeWine told ABC 6 On Your Side he supports the Columbus ordinance passed Monday banning the sale of flavored vaping and other tobacco products.

    “Making a decision not to have flavored cigarettes is a logical decision that will save many, many lives and will save taxpayers a lot of money,” the governor said. “Smoking costs the citizens of Ohio hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars every single year.”

    The day after the Columbus tobacco ban passed, Republicans who control the legislature added a proposal to an unrelated bill mandating that only the state can regulate tobacco products in Ohio. The bill would wipe out attempts by local governments such as Columbus to rein in the use of tobacco products.

  • Columbus, Ohio Bans Flavored Vaping Products

    Columbus, Ohio Bans Flavored Vaping Products

    Credit: Spirit of America

    The Columbus City Council in the U.S. state of Ohio on Monday unanimously approved the second reading of an ordinance that will ban the sale of flavored tobacco and vaping products in the state’s most populated city.

    The ban is scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, giving retailers just over a year to clear out existing inventory. The ban covers nearly all flavored tobacco and vaping products, including those with menthol, mint and wintergreen flavors. The ban does not apply to the sale of flavored shisha tobacco, however.

    While the ordinance makes it illegal to sell flavored tobacco products, it does not make it illegal to use such products. The legislation does not include criminal penalties on users, but does impose civil penalties on sellers.

    On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to stop California from enforcing its ban on the sale of most flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes.

    Columbus is home to approximately 906,000 people.

  • Study Finds Vaping May be Less Harmful for Women

    Study Finds Vaping May be Less Harmful for Women

    A new study concludes that vaping could potentially be less harmful for women then men who vape.

    Loren Wold, the study’s senior author and associate dean for research operations at the Ohio State College of Medicine, believes this could be because the females produced a higher amount of an enzyme that breaks down nicotine. According to the study, humans carry a similar level of that enzyme.

    Credit: J.A.

    “The results were surprising. We were shocked at the amount of protection afforded to females,” Wold said. “The theory is that since the enzyme breaks down nicotine so much faster, the nicotine isn’t in the circulation as long and that may be why females exhibit protection from vaping.”

    Funded as part of a $5.5 million grant awarded by the American Heart Association, the Ohio State University study looked at mice between the human equivalent of ages 12 to 30 in an effort to determine the impacts of vaping on young adults.

    Researchers exposed both male and female mice to an e-cigarette aerosol mixture and found that, while heart function in male mice decreased over time, female mice remained unaffected.

    Researchers are now working to determine whether the enzyme can help provide a higher level of protection to human women, according to a release from the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. Meanwhile, researchers are conducting a similar study to determine the best ways to reduce youth addiction to e-cigarettes.

  • Ohio Indoor Ban Allows Exemption for Vape Shops

    Ohio Indoor Ban Allows Exemption for Vape Shops

    The Ohio Senate passed its version of the two-year state operating budget, House Bill 110. In Governor Mike DeWine’s budget proposal, he wants to expand the statewide indoor smoking ban to include vaping. James Jarvis, president of the Ohio Vapor Technology Association (OHVTA) said the organization did not oppose this measure. Both the House and the Senate retained the language. The Senate, however, included an amendment to provide and exemption to stand-alone vapor stores from the indoor ban.

    Credit: Spirit of America

    “This exemption is about consumer education and safety. The devices that stand-alone stores sell are technical pieces of electronics and if not used properly can cause harm,” said Jarvis. “Our store owners pride themselves on providing customers a full wealth of knowledge on how to not only use the device, but also change our important components of the device. This exemption allows our store owners to continue this education to properly advise consumers on how to use their device, whether with or without nicotine, in the store.”

    The exemption only applies to stores who’s gross receipts are from sales of 80 percent or more of electronic smoking devices and accessories as currently defined in Ohio Law. The rule would not apply to convenience, grocery or other multi product stores.

    The bill now moves on to a Conference Committee where the House and Senate will find common ground before sending it to Dewine’s desk for final approval.