Board: More e-cigarette info needed

SAUGUS – The Board of Health was hesitant in issuing a tobacco permit for an electronic cigarette store in Saugus because they felt there was not enough regulation to deem it safe for consumers.??We don?t know enough about it and certainly the Saugus Board of Health won?t be the fact-finding group that will tell you if it is or it isn?t a good idea,” said Chairman Joseph Vinard in a meeting Monday.The board invited experts to weigh in on the possible health risks of the e-cigarettes before reviewing the application of Saugus resident Chris MacClellan, who wished to open a “boutique” store selling e-cigarettes at 90 Lincoln Ave.Joyce Redford, director of North Shore/Cape Ann Tobacco Control Program, began her thoughts on the issue by stating that the business owners of Eastern Vapor, the Saugus establishment that was selling the e-cigarettes and mixing their own vapor, had left the town to move their business to a Boston location, though she said she had been unable to contact them.Redford said because there was not much regulation on the e-cigarettes, there could be as many as 20 stores in the North Shore and Cape Ann area since the business was “very profitable.”Though new restrictions beginning Jan. 1 prohibit use of the vapor-based pipes from the same public settings as a cigarette, Redford said there are more concerns that have not been addressed through a lack of regulation, starting with what exactly was put into the vapor oil. Redford said there was no way to know if 26 milligrams was the highest amount available, or if mixers were adding harmful substances to the fruity-smelling liquid. She warned against allowing the mixing to take place inside the store.Passing around samples of the liquid nicotine, Redford went on to say that the substance is harmful if exposed to the skin, a hazard to both the seller and consumer.D.J. Wilson, Public Health Liaison for the Massachusetts Municipal Association, said the “sweet tart” flavors were popular among youths. Wilson said compared to a liquor license where a consumer must drink a beverage in front of a bartender, a buyer of an e-cigarette was much less restricted. “They walk out the door and you don?t know what happens next. You don?t know what 26 milligrams of nicotine will do to a 90-pound person,” said Wilson.Jennifer Robertson, a representative of the Department of Public Health and the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards, offered more concerns of the toxic nicotine being illegally disposed of and seeping into groundwater. Robertson said without inspection regulations in place, there was no way to know if the bottles, or the handler mixing the vapor, were sanitized, or even where the vapor came from.After the experts weighed in, McClellan came to the table to express his wish to open a retail-only store with no mixing. He said he understood the board?s concerns for limited regulations, but said in his experience it was a proven route to quitting tobacco cigarettes.?I started smoking when I was 13, now I?m 42,” said MacClellan. “My friends and I used to smoke two packs a day. Now our lungs don?t hurt and we don?t cough in the morning. I think it?s a good thing.”MacClellan said the lease for the space was contingent on the permit from the board.Upon closer inspection of the application, Vinard said there was another applicant vying for the same space.Vinard said with the possible competing applications in addition to the lack of information on the e-cigarettes, the application should be tabled for their next meeting. Vinard then suggested the board do more research in the meantime.The board quickly voted and unanimously agreed.