Gov. Wednesday Jared Polis has directed the state health department to explore options to reduce teenage vaping, he said.
“We’ve directed our staff to learn that which we may do instantly without the need to wait for legislature or perhaps the ballot field,” he told Colorado Matters’ Ryan Warner. He has got expected the Colorado Department of Public health insurance and Environment to see just what it could do.
A wave associated with disease connected with e-cigarettes has swept the world, causing significantly more than 500 situations in 38 states and 11 reported fatalities. Nowadays there are eight instances of verified or probable illness that is vaping-related their state, based on the state wellness division. Six of these patients have now been hospitalized.
Polis said other feasible measures, like Tobacco-21 — increasing the legal purchase age for e-cigarette items from 18 to 21 — would need legislative approval. A ballot measure to increase fees on vaping products would want voter approval. a proposition for lawmakers to refer a hefty income tax enhance on smoking and tobacco towards the ballot failed in Colorado’s General Assembly final springtime.
Governors in other states have actually issued sweeping requests, such as for example a ban that is four-month the purchase of all vaping products in Massachusetts, or a ban on flavored e-cigarettes in Michigan.
Polis claims, unlike several other states, Colorado law limits what they can do under their way.
“There’s items that other states’ governors have inked that aren’t in my own authority to accomplish,” he said. He stated hawaii will explore what’s within its appropriate authority to complete.
A lot more than 500 urban centers and counties in 30 states, including 10 regional governments in Colorado, have actually raised the age that is legal purchase vaping item to 21. Eighteen states have inked the exact same.
“It’s not a thing the governor can perform, but on that concept,” Polis said if it’s something legislators want to work on, we’re happy to work with them.
Polis explained he supports “closing the vaping loophole,” which exempts vape products from the tobacco income tax. He said bringing the income tax proposition right back is “something we now haven’t offered through to. We’re hoping to pursue it.”
Colorado topped the country for teen vaping in a study of more than three dozen states year that is last.
Associated with the situations of vape-related infection in Colorado since August, two involved simply marijuana, three had been smoking just and two included both smoking and cannabis. A person is nevertheless under research. Three regarding the situations had been in Denver, two in Boulder plus one each in Arapahoe, Jefferson and Weld counties. The age that is median of situations is 18.
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