COLUMBIA, Mo. — A week before state legislators return to the Capitol for the annual veto session, Gov. Jay Nixon joined Missouri health care advocates to highlight their opposition to a bill that was originally designed to prevent sales of electronic cigarettes to minors.
At first glance, a sitting governor at a roundtable with representatives of groups like the American Cancer Society and American Heart Association opposing a measure that would prevent children from purchasing nicotine products might appear surprising.
The reason for their opposition, Nixon said, is in the bill’s fine print.
Senate Bill 841 started out simple enough. In its original form, the legislation would have prevented anyone younger than 18 from purchasing e-cigarette products, which is currently legal. But quietly near the end of session, the legislation was amended with a provision that would exempt electronic cigarette products from being regulated in the same way the state regulates traditional tobacco products.
For Nixon, the provision amounts to a deadly carcinogen that he is arguing should kill the bill. He said the blame for the provision’s late addition lies at the feet of tobacco companies. Jeff Harris, the Democratic governor’s director of policy, put it another way.
“It has the facade of being regulation, but in reality, it is a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Harris said.
Stacy Reliford, a Missouri lobbyist for the American Cancer Society, said the bill causes her organization “grave concern,” particularly as large companies that have traditionally been involved in tobacco sales are making their way into the e-cigarette market.
“There has been an entrance to the market by every major tobacco company,” she said. The bill “helps them skirt regulations that apply to other cigarettes.”
In the spring, the bill passed with supermajorities in both chambers of the General Assembly, including support from all of Joplin’s delegation. If nobody changes their vote, the bill is ripe for an override attempt when lawmakers convene next week. State Rep. Mike Kelley, R-Lamar, said he will be sticking with his vote in support.
“I think it is the right vote for the same reasons I thought so the first time. One, it’s not tobacco. Two, we have 15-year-olds who are able to buy these products. This bill takes care of both of those issues,” he said. “The bill makes sure it isn’t treated as tobacco and shouldn’t be, and keeps it out of the hands of those under the age of 18.”
Kelley said that after his review of medical studies, he believes the nicotine vapor itself does not contain any of the carcinogens that are in traditional cigarettes. But doctors at the University of Missouri, like Kevin D. Everett, who has devoted his research to issues surrounding tobacco, said that while no research on the issue is conclusive, it is clear that other potentially harmful chemicals — often from the devices’ batteries that facilitate the vaporizing — are inhaled by e-cigarette smokers.
Alex Jones, manager of The Vapor Crew, 420 N. Range Line Road in Joplin, also said he supports an override of the governor’s veto.
“That was a good piece of legislation,” he said.
His store, which opened in November, doesn’t sell e-cigarettes or related merchandise to anyone under 18. Making a statewide ban on sales to minors would help emphasize that policy, he said.
“If it’s a law, we wouldn’t have people even asking,” he said.
Jones said he prefers to see e-cigarettes remain in a classification separate from tobacco products, which the legislation would do. He said an attempt to regulate the devices as tobacco products would likely cause the devices to be taxed, which could drive his customers online or to stores in states where no such regulations exist.
“From a business side, that would be taking money out of the local economy,” he said.
Bradley Crane, owner of the SWMO Vape Shop, 1205 S. Main St. in Joplin, said he hopes legislators override the governor’s veto. He said the proposed ban on e-cigarette sales to minors would be inexpensive to enforce as well as responsible, as minors are already prohibited from buying cigarettes.
Since opening his store in April 2013, he has set a policy of not selling to anyone under the age of 18, he said.
“We don’t sell to minors because we choose not to,” he said. “But it would be really nice to have some sort of backup that we could point to and say, ‘Sorry, it’s the law.’”
As for the piece of the legislation that would exempt e-cigarettes from being regulated as tobacco products, Crane said he thinks it’s unnecessary for the state to get involved in regulation attempts or exemptions at all. On a national level, the industry is already under scrutiny by the Food and Drug Administration, he said.
“Let that change when the fed says it needs to change,” he said.
Federal way
THE FDA IS DEVELOPING A RULE that would regulate e-cigarettes in the same way traditional smoking tobacco products are already, which would prevent sales to minors. Last month, the agency closed the public commenting period on the rule. Gov. Jay Nixon said the federal rule making its way through the promulgation process could do what the Legislature’s bill aims to do without the provisions he opposes.