Stores say could feel impact from state vaping ban

Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services officials said today the department has identified the state’s first death associated with the national outbreak of e-cigarette use, or vaping.

The officials said in a press release the case involves a person in their late teens with a history of vaping. State and local health officials have been investigating and officially identified this as a case Tuesday. No further information about the individual is being released at this time due to confidentiality.

The announcement comes as businesses that sell e-cigarettes and vaping products are wondering what will come after a partial ban on selling the products.

At the beginning of this month Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, announced an emergency administrative rule to temporarily prohibit the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and vaping products.

“Young Montanans are using e-cigarettes at an alarming rate, while officials investigate the possible causes of a national outbreak of e-cigarette related injury and death, leaving us at a crossroads,” Bullock, who is running for U.S. president in 2020, said in a press release Oct. 8.

Bullock also gave his condolences this morning in the press release about the death associated with vaping.

“My heartfelt sympathies go out to the family who has lost a loved one way too soon,” he said. “This tragedy truly hits home. I urge Montanans to take the recommendations being issued by public health officials very seriously until more is known about this public health crisis.”

The ban goes into effect Oct. 22 and will be for 120 days. The emergency rule was filed by the Department of Public Health and Human Services and will include all flavored e-cigarette products, including flavored nicotine, THC and CBD vaping products, in-store and online. The release added that the ban does not require retailers to destroy their existing inventory.

Local businesses which sell mainly e-cigarette and vaping products will experience adverse effects from the ban, Smoker’s Friendly Retail Operations Manager Tom Allen said. He said Smoker’s Friendly has about 40 to 50 percent of its sales coming from the category of products.

“It’s obviously a hassle … but it’s something we have to do and we will do it,” he said.

He added that as a part of the tobacco industry Smoker’s Friendly is used to bans on products, such as some states banning cigarillos, glass products and the national ban on flavored cigarettes which went into effect in the early 2000s.

“It’s not something we are not used to seeing or hearing, being a part of the tobacco industry,” he said. “There is nothing but regulation and it only seems to be getting worse.”

His concern is for the smaller vape shops, he said, which deal mainly in vaping products, he said. Smoker’s Friendly is a larger business, having a number of stores in multiple states, but smaller, more localized businesses may not be able to make it the 120 days without any income.

“Simply, it’s got to be a large portion of inventory and revenue and it’s being completely taken away,” he said. “Smaller mom-and-pop kind of establishments are going to be hugely affected.”

He added that it is within the governor’s power to institute the ban, although from a business standpoint he does not agree with the decision.

A Zip Trip representative declined to comment on the issue.

Town Pump representative Bill McGladdery said vaping and e-cigarette sales make up less than 1 percent of sales in those stores, and the company is not concerned by the ban.

Calls to a representative of Holiday Stationstores were not answered by printing deadline today.

The economic impact

University of Montana Economic Professor Derek Kellenberg said the ban will certainly decrease sales and decrease revenues, but to what extent of the effects he doesn’t know. He added that he is not a specialist on the topic, but from a purely economic standpoint, some businesses primarily selling vape products may go out of business depending on the liquidity and cash they have. 

The ban has two issues, he said. One is that, from a business perspective, owners of vape shops will have a drastic decrease in revenues, but from a public health perspective, vaping is potentially harmful to the health of people who use the products. He added that the large number of teenagers using vape products are at risk of having costly health and medical problems. The ban may deter people, including teens, from using the product and the savings from the medical costs could far outweigh any losses experienced by businesses, he said.

“From a public health standpoint, it’s a net benefit to society,” he said.

Vaping and the youth

Havre Public Schools Superintendent Andy Carlson said a large number of youths in Havre Public Schools are using vaping products, possibly more than they are aware of. He added that he was glad the ban went into effect and it could possibly deter students from vaping.

Carlson said students are not given enough information to make an informed decision about vaping and he believe, youths are targeted by the industry and not told the truth about the dangers about the products.

“To me, it makes a lot of sense when you start looking at the different flavors they are producing,” he said. “It’s not hard to see who they are marketing to.

“It’s a real issue and I’m glad that there are folks who are starting to realize how serious this is,” he said. “… We are just starting to figure out that it is not healthy.”

He said in light of the several cases across the country including Montana, with people becoming sick or dying relating to vaping, it is important people know the dangers.

Two cases were recently confirmed in Montana, a person from Gallatin County and a person from Yellowstone County.

Nationwide, as of Oct. 8, 1,080 confirmed and probable cases and 21 deaths linked to e-cigarette use have been identified in 48 states and one U.S. territory. More than half the cases involve patients under 25 years of age.

Allen said the ban, to his knowledge, does not include tobacco flavored vaping products.

He added that he is seeing more and more states ban flavored products and it goes back to a national political level. He said the national Food and Drug Administration has said the country has a teen vaping epidemic, but some people within the industry are unsure it is an epidemic.

The 2019 Montana Youth Risk Behavior Survey showed 30 percent of Montana high school students currently use e-cigarettes and more than 58 percent have tried them, the DPPHS press release said. It added that in Montana, 28 percent of middle school students report having tried e-cigarettes, and 16 percent report currently using them. Approximately 43,000 Montana youth between ages 12 and 18 have tried vaping products and 22,000 Montana youth are using vaping products. Between 2017 and 2019, the percentage of Montana high school students using these products frequently — on 20 or more of the past 30 days — has increased by 243 percent and daily use has increased by 263 percent.

The press release said that a recent national study concluded flavored tobacco products might attract young users and serve as starter products to regular tobacco use. It added that a recent report by the FDA says that 96 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds who use e-cigarette started with a flavored product, and 70 percent report the flavors as the reason they use e-cigarettes.

What will happen after the 120 days?

The ban is only for 120 days and hopefully during that time the state can collect the research it needs and then business can continue as usual, Allen said. He added that since e-cigarettes and vaping have been introduced into the4 market it has become a large part of businesses across the country. JUUL, one of the larger e-cigarette companies, is the fifth-highest selling nicotine product in the market.

Kellenberg said the ban may be extended after the 120 days, but the ban is not national. If businesses need to sell their inventory they could possibly sell it in states which do not have a ban in effect.

Allen said that more and more states are putting their own bans into place and in states like Colorado, where Smoker’s Friendly’s headquarters is located, or California, cities have also started putting their own regulations into effect. He said that it causes much more regulation and makes business increasingly difficult for anyone in the tobacco industry.

“If Havre, Lewistown and Billings, started making their own rules, products and flavor restrictions, it could really be even more detrimental for business,” Allen said

He added that he doesn’t understand the reason for these bans across the country because the tobacco industry pays a large amount of federal and state taxes and has been a consistent tax base.