TriCounty Board Asks Legislature to Reduce Youth Access to E-Cigarettes

The TriCounty Board of Health has taken a stand as part of their resolve to protect youth in local communities. During their public meeting on Wednesday the TriCounty Board of Health adopted a resolution “to encourage the legislature to take action to reduce access and availability of e-cigarettes to individuals under 21 years old.” The resolution urges “the Utah State Legislature to take action by creating an excise tax for e-cigarettes, ban e-cigarette flavors and move sales of ‘open system’ e-cigarettes to specialty retail stores.” TriCounty Health has some unsettling statistics supporting the need for change: E-cigarette use in Utah has doubled in 8th, 10th and 12th grade students from 5.8 percent in 2013 to 11.1 percent in 2017 and Utah students are more likely to vape or use e-cigarettes than use any other tobacco product.