Youth vaping addiction becomes urgent issue for Kentucky legislature

When the Kentucky legislature returns to Frankfort on January 2, one of the many issues they face is youth smoking, particularly the use of e-cigarettes. Research shows that among high school students in Kentucky, the prevalence of e-cigarette use has surpassed that of traditional smoking. John Cheves of the Lexington Herald-Leader reported: "National regulators, public health experts, and others are urging lawmakers to strengthen laws against the sale of smoking products to minors."

From November 2021 to August 2023, the Kentucky Alcoholic Beverage Control Board conducted 883 inspections of stores for sales to minors, Cheves reported: "At least 114 retailers were fined two or more times... Penalties ranged from warning letters (the most common response) to civil fines of $100 and $1,000 for state violations, with individual cases involving five or more violations facing federal fines of up to $6,397 over a 36-month period."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration can impose sales bans on "the most serious repeat offenders," but Cheves reported that "the FDA has issued only one such ban in Kentucky since 2015." It lasted just 24 days.

The Kentucky ABC enforces FDA regulations. While 40 states in the U.S. require tobacco or e-cigarette dealers to obtain licenses, Kentucky does not, meaning there is no state license to revoke as a penalty for repeat offenders. ABC officials declined to comment on Cheves' request for an interview but provided him with a written statement saying that an alcohol retailer with multiple violations of tobacco sales regulations could be charged with operating an "unruly establishment," which could lead to the suspension or revocation of its alcohol license, but ABC has never done so.

ABC is part of the administration of Democratic Governor Andy Beshear, who hopes the Republican-controlled legislature will pass a licensing law, but in its latest annual report, it acknowledged the difficulties of regulation: "Kentucky's history and culture are closely tied to the cultivation and processing of tobacco. The role of tobacco in Kentucky's economy, combined with the fact that tobacco is the livelihood of many Kentucky families, has created a strong norm of acceptance around tobacco that poses significant challenges for prevention efforts."

The number of tobacco farmers in Kentucky has dropped to below 3,000, but tobacco remains an important cash crop, and the state's adult smoking rate is the second highest in the nation, second only to West Virginia. In Kentucky, the prevalence of e-cigarettes among minors is twice that of traditional smoking, Cheves noted.

Kentucky youth advocates executive director Terry Brooks told Cheves: "All the evidence we see—including anecdotal evidence from my two grandsons—leads me to believe that kids have no problem accessing these products. I think this is a more widespread phenomenon than most people realize."

Cheves noted: "The Kentucky legislature's efforts to increase civil penalties for retailers selling smoking products to minors have yielded no results."

While state officials debate licensing issues, the city of Louisville has implemented a local law for two years, which, although not fully enforced, Cheves reported: "The licensing law and related zoning laws give the city tools to prevent new independent smoking retailers from opening within 600 feet of another such store or within 1,000 feet of child service facilities, such as schools, parks, public playgrounds, daycare centers, outdoor recreation areas, sports facilities, or community centers."

Cheves added: "Health officials stated in a recent interview that they have just begun to enforce parts of the law. The Louisville Health Department was assigned new tobacco retail licensing responsibilities about three years ago, coinciding with the third anniversary of the Covid-19 pandemic, which understandably dominated many months of the agenda. The funding provided by the relatively small licensing fee has not been sufficient for the city health department to hire more staff."