HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 1091.149 2012-2014CCI_"`4TY C _r7A
Murashige, Laura CG"Y''' ',
From: Tami MacAller<tmacaller@tobaccofreehawaii.org>2014 (;CC 15 PH 3. 20
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2014 8:46 AM
To: David, Maile; Eoff, Karen; Kanuha, Dru; Ilagan, Greggor; Onishi, Dennis; Wille, Margaret;
Poindexter, Valerie; Chung, Aaron; Paleka, Daniel
Cc: Council Testimony
Subject: Electronic Smoking Devices are not safe - Not regulated in any way - Are drastically
influencing our youth to use!
Importance: High
Dear Honorable Hawaii County Council Members -
I know that you have been overwhelmed with letters from those who oppose Bill 302 - but I am certain that
the reason they are opposing the bill has nothing to do with what the bill is about - Protecting the
Public's Health from electronic smoking device (ESD) vapor and the influence of ESD's on
our youth.
Of the 2 middle schools and 2 high schools in West Hawai'i that I have been urgently asked to
provide education to about ESD's in the past few months (just got another request from Hawai'i
Preparatory Academy) we know that 75% of the students have tried or are now using ESD's.
These devices are not safe or regulated in any way - from the manufacturing - causing metal
particles to be released in the vapor; to the unnatural chemicals used in the flavorings, a -juice
and nicotine and the faulty manufacturing causes the heating elements & batteries (which heat
chemicals to 600 degrees) causing the devices to explode. These devices are harmful to not only
the user but the innocent bystanders.
Please protect your public's health and support Bill 302.
Please be aware of the powerful influence of e -cigarettes have on our youth. Hawaii state may be the
Hawaii DoH: Significant Increase in E -Cigarette Use among Public School Teens
By News Release @ 4:37 PM :: 264 Views :: Hawaii Statistics, Health Care
Hawaii Department of Health's Youth Tobacco Survey Shows Significant Increase in E -
Cigarette Use among Public School Teens
News Release from Hawaii DoH December 10, 2014
HONOLULU - Hawaii ranked first as the healthiest state in the nation for the second consecutive year,
according to the 2014 America's Health Rankings, with a 13.3 percent decrease in adult smoking in the
last three years. However, the latest findings from the Hawaii Youth Tobacco Survey (YTS) are not so
positive.
While tobacco use among Hawaii's public middle and high school students has declined over
the past decade, increased use of non-traditional tobacco products -- such as electronic
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cigarettes, water pipes or hookah and roll -your -own cigarettes -- could reverse this positive
trend.
"Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in our Islands. As a state we have
made great progress to reduce tobacco use among youth, but we are seeing alarming trends
in the use of non-traditional tobacco products that we need to monitor vigilantly," said Lila
Johnson, manager of the DOH Tobacco Prevention and Education Program.
The survey results show that while the use of traditional tobacco products -- such as cigarettes, cigars,
smokeless tobacco and pipes and exposure to secondhand smoke -- have decreased, experimentation
with and current use of new tobacco products --including e -cigarettes, tobacco in water pipes or
hookah, and roll your -own cigarettes -- are increasing. In particular, lifetime e -cigarette use among
high school students tripled from 5.1 percent in 2011 to 17.6 percent in 2013, and quadrupled among
middle school students, from 1.8 percent to 7.9 percent, during the same time period.
"Evidence suggests that e -cigarettes are being used by students who are not cigarette smokers," said
Tonya Lowery St. John, Epidemiologist for DOH's Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
"More than a third of middle school students and almost a third of high school students who currently
smoke e -cigarettes have never even tried a traditional cigarette."
Among high school current e -cigarette users, 31.7 percent have never smoked a traditional cigarette,
31.6 percent have tried them but have not smoked one in the past 30 days, and 36.7 percent have
smoked both cigarettes and traditional cigarettes in the past 30 days. Among middle school current e -
cigarette users, 33.2 percent have never smoked a traditional cigarette, 38.4 percent have tried
traditional cigarettes but not in the past 30 days, and 28.4 percent have smoked both e -cigarettes and
traditional cigarettes in the past 30 days.
Compared with national YTS results, Hawaii's youth are using e -cigarettes more than their peers on the
Mainland. In 2013, 1.1 percent of middle school students and 4.5 percent of high school students in
the U.S. were current e -cigarette users, compared with 5.5 percent of middle school students and 10
percent of high school students in Hawaii. Lifetime e -cigarette use for U.S. middle school students was
3 percent and 11 percent for U.S. high school students, compared to 7.9 percent of middle school
students and 17.9 percent of high school students in Hawaii.
Results also indicate that middle and high school students are seeing and hearing fewer messages
about the dangers of cigarettes on TV, the Internet and radio, and are seeing fewer people smoking on
TV and in movies. However, data also show that a significant proportion of students are receiving ads
and coupons directly from tobacco companies, with 12.7 percent of middle school students and 8.8
percent of high school students reporting that they received ads directly from a tobacco company in
the past 30 days through the mail, e-mail, the Internet, Facebook, Myspace or a text message. In
addition, 7.9 percent of middle school students and 6.6 percent of high school students reported
receiving coupons from a tobacco company through one of these vehicles in the past 30 days.
The Hawaii Departments of Health (DOH) and Education (DOE) jointly administer the YTS, in
collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The YTS is a module of
the Hawaii School Health Survey which is conducted biennially or on odd -numbered years among
Hawaii public middle school students (grades 6-8) and high school students (grades 9-12).
Participation in the survey is voluntary. In 2013 a representative sample of 1,980 middle school
students and 1,455 high school students participated in the survey. The overall participation rate
among selected schools and students was 67.2 percent for middle schools and 60.4 percent for high
schools.
Based on these findings, DOH staff has added new questions to 2015 YTS which will begin data
collection early next year. These questions will further explore student use of and attitudes towards e -
cigarettes and other non-traditional tobacco products.
The YTS results are weighted by CDC to represent all public school students in Hawaii. Detailed data
tables by state, sex, grade and race/ethnicity can be found on the Hawaii Health Data Warehouse
website at www.hhdw.org .
Please contact me if you would like updated peer reviewed and non -industry funded research on this topic.
Thank you for all you do!
Tami MacAller, MPH, MCHES
West Hawaii Community Coalition Coordinator
Coalition For A Tobacco -Free Hawai'i
A Program of the Hawai'i Public Health Institute
Phone: 808.238.0930
Email: tmacaller@tobaccofreehawaii.org
web: www.tobaccofreehawaii.org
Hawai'i Island Facebook: www.facebook.com/H awa i i Isla nclTobacco Free Partnership
"What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. "
Joseph Addison
Murashige, Laura
From: Tami MacAller<tmacaller@tobaccofreehawaii.org>
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2014 8:51 AM
To: David, Maile; Eoff, Karen; Kanuha, Dru; Ilagan, Greggor; Onishi, Dennis; Wille, Margaret;
Poindexter, Valerie; Chung, Aaron; Paleka, Daniel
Cc: Council Testimony`
Subject: Youth Use of E-Cigs continues to rise 7_173C` rte;
Importance: High
Aloha Hawaii County Council Members;
Below is information about youth use of Electronic Smoking Devices from the Journal of Pediatrics °this -peer
reviewed journal just published information on the study below:
Thomas Wills and his colleagues at Dartmouth just published "Risk factors for exclusive e -cigarette use and
dual e -cigarette use and tobacco use in adolescents" in Pediatrics. This large (1941 high school students, mean
age 14.6 years, conducted in 2013) found:
High levels of e -cigarette use (17% e -cigarettes only, 12% dual use with cigarettes, compared to 3% cigarettes
only)
E -cigarette only use concentrated among kids at lower risk of smoking cigarettes than those who typically smoke
cigarettes. (The dual users were had risk patterns more like cigarette smokers.)
Nearly two-thirds (18%/29%) of kids who experimented with e -cigarettes are current users, challenging the
assumption by the American Heart Association and others that high every use of e -cigarettes found in many
studies reflect kids who are just trying them once or twice and not becoming regular users (defined as use in the
last 30 days, which is the definition of "current use" of kids).
Taken with other recent papers on details of e -cigarette use patterns in kids, we can now conclude that e -
cigarette use is
• Expanding the population of kids addicted to nicotine beyond those who would start smoking cigarettes
• Supporting cigarette smoking among kids
Here is the abstract from the paper:
OBJECTIVE: To describe electronic cigarette (e -cigarette) use and cigarette use among adolescents and
determine whether established risk factors for smoking discriminate user categories.
METHODS: School-based survey of 1941 high school students (mean age 14.6 years) in Hawaii; data
collected in 2013. The survey assessed e -cigarette use and cigarette use, alcohol and marijuana use, and
psychosocial risk and protective variables (eg, parental support, academic involvement, smoking expectancies,
peer smoking, sensation seeking). Analysis of variance and multinomial regression examined variation in risk
and protective variables across the following categories of ever -use: e -cigarette only, cigarette only, dual use
(use of both products), and nonuser (never used either product).
RESULTS: Prevalence for the categories was 17% (e -cigarettes only), 12% (dual use), 3% (cigarettes only),
and 68% (nonusers). Dual users and cigarette -only users were highest on risk status (elevated on risk factors and
lower on protective factors) compared with other groups. E -cigarette only users were higher on risk status than
nonusers but lower than dual users. E -cigarette only users and dual users more often perceived e -cigarettes as
healthier than cigarettes compared with nonusers.
CONCLUSIONS: This study reports a US adolescent sample with one of the largest prevalence rates of e -
cigarette only use in the existing literature. Dual use also had a substantial prevalence. The fact that e -cigarette
only users were intermediate in risk status between nonusers and dual users raises the possibility that e -
cigarettes are recruiting medium -risk adolescents, who otherwise would be less susceptible to tobacco
product use.
The full paper is available for free here.
Please contact me if you would like updated peer reviewed and non -industry funded research on this topic.
Thank you for all you do!
Tami MacAller, MPH, MCHES
West Hawaii Community Coalition Coordinator
Coalition For A Tobacco -Free Hawai'i
A Program of the Hawai'i Public Health Institute
Phone: 808.238.0930
Email: tmacaller(@tobaccofreehawaii.org
web: www.tobaccofreehawaii.org
Hawai'i Island Facebook: www.facebook.com/HawaiiIsla ndTobaccoFreePartnership
"What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. "
Joseph Addison
CCOALITION FOR A
TOBACCO -FREE HAWAII
To: The Honorable Councilperson Dru M. Kanuha, Chairman Hawai'i County Council'
and Honorable Members of the Hawai'i County Council
From: Tami MacAller, MPH, MCHES, Public Health Professional and Coalition for a Tobacco -Free
Hawaii, West Hawai'i Community Coalition Coordinator 0 -
Date: December 15, 2014 M?
Hrg: Hawai'i County Council Meeting December 17, 2014, 9:00 AM, West Hawai'i Civic Center
Re: Strong Support for HC Bill 302, Relating to the use of electronic smoking devices
�11.J
The Coalition supports including the use of ESDs in to all smoke-free laws by amending Chapter 14
(general welfare), Article 4 of the Hawaii County Code 1983 (2005 edition, as amended) relating to
prohibition of smoking in certain places and the use of electronic smoking devices, which will provide for
further consistency and protection in the workplace, and other areas where tobacco use is prohibited in
Hawaii County.
As a Public Health Professional and the West Hawai'i Community Coordinator for the Coalition for a
Tobacco -Free Hawai'i, I would like to express my strong support for Hawai'i County Bill 302 to integrate
the use of electronic smoking devices (ESD) into all Hawaii County Smoke -Free and Tobacco -Free
ordinances.
This bill is about protecting the public's health. The use of ESDs by youth in our county is sky rocketing.
Just this past week the Hawaii Department of Health released new survey data on smoking and youth.'
While there is a reduction in cigarette smoking by youth, the use of ESDs by youth has tripled in just 2
years. These youth, mostly middle school ages, have never smoked cigarettes, but are using ESDs. We
must protect our youth from the harms of ESDs, most especially lifelong addiction to nicotine and lung
diseases. By prohibiting the use of ESDs in work places and county parks and beaches, it will help reduce
the influence that ESDs have on youth.
As a health educator, I have been urgently requested by West Hawaii Schools to provide information on
ESD's to students. Of the 700 students that I provided education for (at 2 middle schools and 2 high
schools) recently, approximately 75% have tried or are now using ESD's. Most of the students have
been told they are safe, while others received ESDs from their parents (who were told by the business
owners they are safe), other students purchased them online and many students received coupons via
email for free ESD products. Just two weeks ago I received a request from a boarding school and was
told that the students were caught using the ESD which had caused the smoke -alarms to go off. We
have since learned that about 70% of students at this school have used an ESD and purchased them
online with a Visa gift card. This trend among youth use is alarming. The research and data on youth
usage of ESDs continues to double annually.
ESDs are not safe or regulated in any way — from the manufacturing — causing metal particles to be
released in the vapor (these particles then lodge deeply into the lungs — creating an environment for
disease); and the faulty manufacturing causes the heating elements & batteries (which can heat
chemicals to 600 degrees) causing the devices to explode; to the unnatural chemicals used in the
flavorings, a -juice and nicotine. There is no credible evidence proving ESD as successful smoking
cessation method or have ESD's been regulated for cessation therapy.'"
Using an ESD is a person's choice, but it is not a choice for an innocent bystander who inhales ESD
aerosol. Evidence is clear that ESDs do not just emit "water vapor". This secondhand aerosol contains
, CCCOALITION FOR A
,/ TOBACCO -FREE HAWAII
nicotine, metal particles of tin/lead and toxins like formaldehyde which are known to cause cancer.
Persons with breathing disabilities have compromised lung function when exposed to the ESD aerosol.
Short term exposure causes eye, throat, asthma attacks and airway irritation. Long term exposure has
been found to cause new cases of asthma in children.
It is vital that we prevent harm and risks before they cause death and disease just as cigarettes have.
As an organization that works to care for our Hawaii County 'ohana and communities, we want to know
that the places where we work and play are healthy places to be; free from ESD aerosol and free from
the undesired exposure of youth to behaviors that might encourage smoking.
Please support Bill 302 and take care of our islands health.
Respectfully yours,
Tavwi.
Tami MacAller, MPH, MCHES
Hawaii Department of Health Report "E -Cigarette Use Among Hawaiian Youth on the Rise"
http://health.hawaii.ROv/tobacco/home/newsblog/ Accessed December 12, 2014
iiBunnellRE, Agaku IT, Arrazola R, Apelberg B1, Caraballo RS, Corey CG, Coleman B, Dube SR, King BA .Intentions to smoke
cigarettes among never -smoking U.S. middle and high school electronic cigarette users, National Youth Tobacco Survey, 2011-
2013. Nicotine and Tobacco Research. 2014 Aug 20.
iii Williams, M., et al., Metal and silicate particles including nanoparticles are present in electronic cigarette cartomizer fluid and
aerosol. PLoS One, 2013. 8(3): p. e57987. Offerman, FJ. "The Hazards of E -Cigarettes." ASHRAE Journal, June 2014.
Goniewicz, M.L.; Knysak, J.; Gawron, M.; Kosmider, L.; Sobczak, A.; Kurek, J.; Prokopowicz, A.; Jablonska-Czapla, M.; Rosik-
Dulewska, C.; Havel, C.; Jacob, P.; Benowitz, N., "Levels of selected carcinogens and toxicants in vapour from electronic
cigarettes," Tobacco Control, March 6, 2013, And, Schripp, T., et al., Does e -cigarette consumption cause passive vaping? Indoor
Air, 2012. 23(1): p. 25-31.
Murashige, Laura
From: Catherine Maxwell <cathyjsmax@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2014 8:21 AM
To: Council Testimony
Subject: Strong Support for Bill 302, Relating to Electronic Smoking Devices
ci -
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To: County Council Chair DruKanuha and Hawai'i County Council Members
Re: Strong Support for Bill 302, Relating to Electronic Smoking Devices
Hrg: Wednesday, December 17, 2014 at 9:00 am at the West Hawaii Civic Center in Kailua-Kona
Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony in strong support of Bill 302. 1 strongly support prohibiting the use of
Electronic Smoking Devices (ESD), also known as electronic cigarettes or e -cigarettes, in places open to the public and
places of employment.
I support including "electronic smoking devices" in the definition of "tobacco product" and "smoke or smoking" in the
County of Hawaii, and to prohibit the use of ESD in the places where smoking is prohibited. Including ESD will protect
the public, reduce confusion within society, decrease distractions in the workplace, and maintain the social norm.
Recent news coverage of the youth tobacco survey showed dramatic increase in youth using ESD in Hawaii. The social
norming around ESD and the claims that these products are harmless contribute to high youth rates.
ESD are currently unregulated and emit unregulated levels of chemicals into the air. Evidence is clear that electronic
smoking devices do not just emit harmless water vapor, but a harmful aerosol that contains nicotine, ultra -fine particles
and toxins known to cause cancer. I urge you to pass Bill 302 in order to provide protection for the public. Failing to act
may set us back decades.
Mahalo.
Catherine Maxwell
142 Kahana Makai Rd
Lahaina, HI 96761
Murashige, Laura
From: Erica Meyer <emmeyer@hawaii.edu>
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2014 3:16 PM
To: Council Testimony
Subject: Strong Support for Bill 302, Relating to Electronic Smoking Devices
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To: County Council Chair DruKanuha and Hawaii County Council Members
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Re: Strong Support for Bill 302, Relating to Electronic Smoking Devices
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Hrg: Wednesday, December 17, 2014 at 9:00 am at the West Hawaii Civic Center in Kailua-Kona
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Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony in strong support of Bill 302. 1 strongly support prohibiting the use of
Electronic Smoking Devices (ESD), also known as electronic cigarettes or e -cigarettes, in places open to the public and
places of employment.
I support including "electronic smoking devices" in the definition of "tobacco product" and "smoke or smoking" in the
County of Hawaii, and to prohibit the use of ESD in the places where smoking is prohibited. Including ESD will protect
the public, reduce confusion within society, decrease distractions in the workplace, and maintain the social norm.
Recent news coverage of the youth tobacco survey showed dramatic increase in youth using ESD in Hawaii. The social
norming around ESD and the claims that these products are harmless contribute to high youth rates.
ESD are currently unregulated and emit unregulated levels of chemicals into the air. Evidence is clear that electronic
smoking devices do not just emit harmless water vapor, but a harmful aerosol that contains nicotine, ultra -fine particles
and toxins known to cause cancer. I urge you to pass Bill 302 in order to provide protection for the public. Failing to act
may set us back decades.
Mahalo
Erica Meyer
Wailuku, HI 96793