Concerned about the addictiveness of nicotine in e-cigarettes, particularly flavored options, the D.C. Council is considering a ban on all flavored vaping options in the Washington D.C. area.

According to The Washington Post, anti-smoking advocates asked any ban to include menthol cigarettes, too.

“Menthol cigarettes have been killing our citizens for decades and decades and decades, and we can really send a message we are not going to put up with it,” said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, speaking at a recent D.C. Council hearing.

Also at the hearing was civic activist Kemry Hughes, who said tobacco marketing efforts in Ward 8 have included community events that menthol-flavored cigarette brands have sponsored in the area. He said African Americans of all generations “overwhelmingly prefer menthol cigarettes,” in large part because of the success of tobacco companies’ marketing efforts.

One vape shop owner argued that targeting flavored vaping products isn’t fair when regular cigarettes remain available for purchase. Geoffrey Gibson also insisted that flavored vodkas aren’t controversial or banned, so neither should vaping products become targeted for a ban.

The D.C. Council is likely to make a decision on whether or not to ban flavors that may lure youth into the addictiveness of nicotine in e-cigarettes in time for the ban to take effect in October, which is the start of a new budget year.

Focus on Addictiveness of Nicotine in E-Cigarettes

According to the Truth Initiative, a nonprofit public health organization, the very first e-cigarettes on the market contained a formulation of nicotine referred to as free-base nicotine. The new types of e-cigarettes use nicotine salts.

“The use of nicotine salts also lowers the pH of e-liquids, which allows higher concentrations of nicotine to be delivered with less irritation,” says the Truth Initiative’s website.

This fast and efficient delivery of nicotine to the human body raises concerns about the increased potential of addictiveness of nicotine in e-cigarettes.

Juul’s pre-filled pods and the refillable products such as Kandypens and Suorin Drop deliver much higher nicotine levels that are delivered faster because of less “throat hit” irritation that is felt with regular cigarettes.

In Europe, an e-cigarette vaping juice cannot contain more than two percent nicotine concentration. But in the U.S., there are no laws regulating nicotine concentration. The Truth Initiative reports almost 75 of U.S. vaping product sales in 2018 included vape juices consisting of a minimum four percent nicotine concentration.

In addition to nicotine addiction, those who vape or smoke minty menthol flavored products may be exposed to carcinogenic levels of pulegone, a natural plant oil.

The Sept. 16, 2019 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine said a study of a variety of menthol cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and e-cigarette juices found particularly high levels of pulegone in smokeless tobacco and e-cig juices, which could expose users to pulegone levels a thousand times more than ever previously possible.

Pulegone has been banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a food flavoring because animal tests found an increased risk of cancer with its ingestion. According to an article from News Medical Life Sciences, pulegone toxicity is more apt to be experienced with inhalation because the lung’s delicate tissues are more susceptible to chemical damage than the gut is.

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This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.