Orange County NC Website
MINUTES-Draft <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH <br />February 22, 2017 <br />S:\Managers Working Files\BOH\Agenda & Abstracts\2017 Agenda & Abstracts/ February Page 2 <br />April Richard, Tobacco Prevention and Control Coordinator, provided a summary of the <br />Surgeon General’s Report on e-cigarette use among youth and young adults. In advance, Ms. <br />Richard provided background information on e-cigarettes as well as a fact sheet on the Surgeon <br />General’s report entitled ‘’E-cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults‘’ that highlighted the <br />public health issue of e-cigarettes and their impact on U.S. youth and young adults. <br /> <br />Highlights of Ms. Richard’s presentation include: <br /> <br />• Varied terminology presents challenges for assessing use and raising awareness about <br />what these devices are and their health implications. Some common names are e-cigs, <br />cigalikes, vape pens, and hookah pens. <br />• Users refer to themselves as vapers rather than smokers. <br />• The Surgeon General’s Report presented five public health concerns. <br />1. Considerable increase in usage. <br />2. Usage strongly associated with use of other tobacco products. <br />3. Nicotine has a detrimental affect on the developing brain and fetuses. An <br />increased rate of SIDS is another harmful effect. <br />4. Aerosol and vapor produced is not harmless. <br />5. Product marketing mimics that of conventional cigarettes. <br />• E-cigarettes can give as high or higher doses of nicotine than conventional cigarettes. <br />• The aerosol, which is not water vapor, contains other toxicants that may be harmful, <br />some of which are known carcinogens. <br /> <br />Dual use (use of e-cigarettes and one or more other tobacco products) is common amongst <br />youth and young adults. Amongst high schoolers, as the grade level increases, so does the <br />prevalence of dual use. Dual use amongst young adults is more prevelant than exclusive use of <br />e-cigarettes. <br /> <br />Stategies to implement for prevention include: <br />• Employ consistent and accurate messaging to parents, youth, young adults, healthcare <br />providers, educators, and other stakeholders about the dangers of e-cigarette use. <br />• Address point of sale and point of delivery ageverification to minimize the ability for <br />youth to access these products. <br />• Regulate marketing and advertising practices.. Many strategies have been found to <br />target youth and young adults including ad placement and themes of rebellion, sex, and <br />independence. <br />• Restrict flavors as flavors are one of the leading reasons youth and young adults <br />iniatite use of these products. There are more than 7000 flavors available. <br />• Include e-cigarettes in smoke-free indoor air policies <br /> <br />The BOH members had questions that were addressed by Ms. Richard and Dr. Bridger. <br /> <br /> <br />B. Outside Agency Review Process <br /> <br />La Toya Strange, Administrative Assistant II, summarized the Outside Agency Review process <br />and the assignments required of Board of Health members for evaluating applications. The <br />Health Department received nine applications to review. Board members are to review the <br />applications assigned to them, record scores on the appropriate scoring cards and send the <br />completed scoring cards back to Ms. Strange by March 17th.