PORT ANGELES — State Attorney General Bob Ferguson urged stronger regulations to prevent teens from smoking electronic cigarettes during a visit to the North Olympic Peninsula on Wednesday.
Ferguson, who spoke to 31 people at a Rotary Club of Port Angeles luncheon, pledged to request state legislation next year on so-called e-cigarettes that did not make it to the House floor for a vote this year.
It would have put the regulation of e-cig sales under the purview of the state Liquor and Cannabis Board, which changes its name from the Liquor Control Board on July 24.
“I’m all but certain to propose that again,” the first-term attorney general said.
Ferguson also had proposed increasing the legal age for e-cig smokers from 18 to 21.
His legislative director, Mike Webb, said the state does not know how many stores sell e-cigs and vaporized products.
“Right now, it’s the Wild West out there,” Webb said.
E-cigs are battery-powered cylindrical devices that heat a flavored liquid that includes nicotine and produces vapor but not cigarette smoke.
Some cigarette smokers hail their use as less harmful than conventional tobacco products and helpful in efforts to stop smoking.
One luncheon participant said she sees people smoke e-cigs “literally everyplace I go.”
In a later Peninsula Daily News interview, Ferguson said too little is known about the long-term use of e-cigs.
“E-cig use is skyrocketing,” he said.
“From what I read from studies, it’s too soon to say it’s OK from a health standpoint, but advertising appeals to teens,” he said.
“Other [attorneys general] are trying to pass similar legislation,” he said.
The federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta says young, developing brains should not be exposed to addictive substances such as nicotine.
Ferguson, 50, also touched on the use of recreational and medical marijuana during his visit to Port Angeles.
He told the Rotarians that his office has counseled 26 to 27 legal divisions in state government over the ins and outs of the implementation of Initiative 502, which voters passed in 2012 that legalized recreational marijuana use by adults.
“It touches almost every aspect of state government, there’s no way around it,” he said, focusing in his presentation on so-called “edibles” such as cookies, brownies and candy infused with THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
“I’m working closely with the Liquor and Cannabis Board so that we have really robust packaging to make sure it’s not appealing to children,” Ferguson said.
One member of the audience said businesses that prohibit employees from smoking marijuana are having difficulty finding workers.
Ferguson responded that businesses’ ability to test applicants for marijuana use has not changed since the initiative’s approval.
Ferguson also said five judges around the state have sided with his legal advice in allowing jurisdictions to ban the sale of marijuana.
In the interview, the state’s 18th attorney general said he expects legislation lawmakers approved this year to prompt a statewide reduction in the 800 “green cross” medical marijuana facilities that have proliferated since I-502’s approval.
“That number will drop considerably by this time next year,” he said.
Ferguson also said he expects the state Supreme Court to accept the state Legislature’s plan to fully fund K-12 education by the 2017-18 year school in accordance with its decision in the McCleary case, prompted by a lawsuit in which a Chimacum School District employee was the lead plaintiff.
The state high court last year ruled the state in contempt for not providing an adequate plan to meet the dictates of the McCleary decision.
In a bipartisan effort, lawmakers approved $1.3 billion for K-12 education in the recently concluded legislative session.
Ferguson said the justices will receive an update on so-called McCleary funding in 10 to 12 days.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
