Whereas the Department of Licensing & Consumer Protection (formerly part of DCRA) is currently holding Community Roundtables for Youth Smoking Prevention across the city to discuss methods of preventing youth smoking;
Whereas ANC 3E has heard from numerous constituents with complaints and concerns about the proliferation of vaping/smoking establishments in the area;
Whereas studies have proven that many e-cigarette liquids and aerosols contain hundreds of chemical substances including propylene glycol (PG) and glycerol, tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs), aldehydes, metals, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), phenolic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), flavorings, tobacco alkaloids, many of which are known or reasonably anticipated to be carcinogenic such as benzene, styrene, formaldehyde, methylene chloride, and acetaldehyde;
Whereas nearly all e-cigarettes include nicotine, using nicotine in adolescence can harm the parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood, and impulse control and using nicotine in adolescence may also increase risk for future addiction to other drugs;
Whereas reducing youth e-cigarette use is critical to address health equity as for decades, the tobacco industry has targeted Black Americans, especially youth and tobacco is the number one cause of preventable death among black Americans;
Therefore, be it resolved that ANC 3E requests the Mayor, Council, and District regulatory agencies to work to implement common-sense restrictions on e-cigarette products in order to curb the epidemic of youth smoking, which should include some or all of the following elements of a multi-pronged strategy to address this crisis:
- The District of Columbia should take steps to make e-cigarettes less accessible.
- Sale of e-cigarettes containing should be no less restrictive than sales of medical marijuana. These devices are approved ostensibly for a health purpose to quit smoking and thus should be supervised and sold as a medical item
- The Council should amend the 2021 Act to broaden the 1/4-mile ban for sales near schools to 1/2 mile or more in order to reduce access to these products for youth.
- The District of Columbia should take steps to make e-cigarettes less attractive.
- The District should ban sales of certain e-cigarette products including by restricting flavors, colors, and other ingredients which are used to market and hook youth on vape products.
- The District should only allow sales of e-cigarette products packaged in plain, uniform pharmaceutical-like packaging to reduce the attractiveness and allure of these products. Given the purported medical use for these products, they should be packaged plainly like prescription medicine.
- The District should not allow e-cigarette or other tobacco products to be on display in a store or advertised. Retailers that choose to sell vaping products and accessories can provide a black and white price list for products upon request.
- The District should make e-cigarettes less harmful (to people and the environment).
- The District should only allow sales of vape products with reduced allowable nicotine concentrations and volumes. For example, U.S. marketed Juul pods can have nearly triple the nicotine (59 mg/ml) that is allowed in the European Union (20 mg/ml).
- The District should ban all single use, disposable vapes which have been shown to entice youth with flavors and a low price point. The single-use nature of these products is harmful to the environment.
- The District should make vaping products less affordable.
- The District should reduce the affordability of tobacco, including vaping products with a higher point of sale tax and consider specifically increasing taxes on single use, disposable products (and absent banning sale of products with high nicotine concentrations, place additional tax on products with nicotine levels in excess of E.U standards).
ANC 3E approved this resolution at its meeting on June 15, 2023, which was properly noticed and at which a quorum was present. The resolution was approved by a vote of 0-0-0. Commissioners Jonathan Bender, Matthew Cohen, Jeffrey Denny, Ali Gianinno Rohin Ghosh, Amy Hall and Tom Quinn were present.
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ANC 3E
By Jonathan Bender, Chairperson