The Franklin Park Village Board recently amended its tobacco code to ban the sale of electronic cigarettes to anyone under 18 years old.
The action by village officials was unanimous. The village’s measure amends the provisions of its cigarette, tobacco and drug paraphernalia code to include e-cigarettes and ban their sale to minors.
According to the U.S. patent website, electronic cigarettes, or vaporizers, are products designed to use liquid containing nicotine, as well as varying compositions of flavorings, propylene glycol, glycerin, and other ingredients. The device is battery-operated and heats the nicotine liquid inside a refillable cartridge to release a chemical-filled aerosol. E-cigarettes do not use tobacco and are technically “smokeless.”
According to the Center for Disease Control the propylene glycol in e-cigarette liquids is responsible for creating a dense “smoke” without flames. While some e-cigarettes look like conventional cigarettes, cigars, or pipes, others look like pens, and larger ones utilize modular tank systems and designs that look nothing like conventional cigarettes or pipes.
“Cigarettes are horrible, but these are probably just as bad,” Trustee Cheryl McLean said. “Even adults who have been using them have been harmed by these electronic cigarettes by batteries that have exploded into their faces. So it’s just not a safe thing, not really a good alternative to smoking.”
Regulators had been slow to address the new electronic nicotine delivery systems. For instance, it wasn’t until 2014 that the Cook County Board passed a measure banning the sale of e-cigarettes to minors that forces retailers to store them behind the counter like other nicotine products. At the time, Commissioner Jeff Tobolski argued liquid nicotine flavors, like bubble gum or cherry, were designed to attract younger smokers who like nicotine liquids that taste like candy when vaporized.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, more than 3 million middle and high school students were current users of e-cigarettes in 2015, up from an estimated 2.46 million in 2014. And in 2013-2014, 81 percent of current youth e-cigarette users cited the availability of appealing flavors as the primary reason for use.
Alex V. Hernandez is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.