Cigarettes Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

WVU Seeks Input on Update to Tobacco-Free Campus Rules

West Virginia University is seeking public input on a new proposal to tighten its tobacco-free campus rules.

School officials say the new rules will be available for public comment from Monday through Jan. 21.

Officials say the proposal would clarify that the ban includes not only the use of tobacco products but any form of smoking — including electronic smoking devices and vapor products.

The school says its board of governors will consider any comments at its Feb. 8 meeting before adopting a final rule.

School officials say the proposal is part of an ongoing revision of university governance. The move stems from the state legislature’s adoption of laws permitting more independence from the state Higher Education Policy Commission.

West Virginia City's Housing Authority Bans Smoking

The housing authority of a West Virginia city has banned smoking at all its properties, including public housing units.

The Herald-Dispatch reports the Huntington Housing Authority has banned smoking at its administrative offices, company-owned vehicles, common spaces and more than 600 public housing units starting July 1. Authority Executive Director Vickie Lester says the new mandate comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which regulates public housing.

Lester says the department told public housing units about the impending ban a few years ago. The ban applies to any kind of lighted pipe, cigar, vapor device, cigarette or other lighted smoking device. It applies to all Housing Authority employees, residents, guests and visitors. Violators will be warned. A fourth violation will result in a notice to vacate.

Study Finds E-Cigarette Devices May Expose Users to Lead and Other Heavy Metals

A new study from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health has found that a significant number of e-cigarette devices generate aerosols with potentially unsafe levels of lead, chromium, manganese and/or nickel. Chronic inhalation of these metals has been linked to lung, liver, immune, cardiovascular and brain damage, as well as cancers.

E-cigarettes contain a nicotine-based liquid that is vaporized and then inhaled. They are a relatively new phenomenon and scientists are still learning about their long-term health effects. Despite the unknown, e-cigarettes are often considered “safer” than regular cigarettes by the general public. Their use has increased 900% among high school students from 2011 to 2015, according to a 2016 report from the Surgeon General and more than 9 million adults vape regularly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Food and Drug Administration has the authority to regulate e-cigarettes but is still considering how to do so.

E-cigarette use is more common among youth and young adults than older adults. West Virginia has the second highest rate of regular smoking in the country, but it’s unclear how the state ranks in e-cigarette use.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Marshall Health, Charleston Area Medical Center and WVU Medicine.

Number of Smoking Adults Declines in W.Va.

The number of adults who smoke cigarettes in West Virginia has significantly declined since 2011.

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human resources released new data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey by DHHR’s Health Statistics Center that shows a decrease in smoking adults of almost 4 percent from 2011 to 2016.

Head Officer and Commissioner of DHHR’s Bureau for Public Health Dr. Rahul Gupta said in a news release this decline is due to the growing number of young adults who never started smoking in the first place.

Gupta says this is a milestone showing the state’s public health efforts in combatting the number of teen smokers.

DHHR says other factors impacting the reduction in adult smokers are indoor clean air regulations, cigarette tax increases, and no-cost tobacco quitline services.

Smoking is known to cause cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and other issues. Smoking-related illness is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States.

It accounts for more than 480,000 deaths nationally and nearly 4,300 deaths in West Virginia.

Senate Approves $1 Tobacco Tax Increase

The state Senate has approved a bill to increase the state’s cigarette tax by a dollar beginning in April of this year. Members voted 26 to 6 Tuesday.

The bill also includes increases in tax rates for other tobacco products, including snuff and vaporized nicotine.

The bill was presented to lawmakers on behalf of Governor Tomblin as a part of his plan to balance the 2016 and 2017 budgets.

In the 2016 budget year, which ends in June, lawmakers are working to close a $381 million budget shortfall. That shortfall grows to a projected $466 million in the 2017 fiscal year.

Tomblin’s proposal, however, included only a 45 cent per pack increase. Tomblin said he was attempting to balance a need for increased revenues with sales competition in border counties.

Lawmakers were more concerned about pressing budget issues and upped the tax.

The bill includes a proposal to commit a portion of the income from the cigarette tax to the state Public Employee’s Health Insurance Agency beginning in the 2018 fiscal year.

The bill now heads to the House of Delegates.