CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Gov. Brown's vaping public health work group to have first meeting Tuesday

Register-Guard - 1/27/2020

The membership of a statewide council meant to address the fears and threats of vaping has been announced.

Gov. Kate Brown called for the formation of the Vaping Public Health Work Group in a fall executive order that, among other things, called for a temporary ban on the sale of flavored vaping products. Court rulings put those bans on hold, and other pieces of the ruling have been slow to start.

The work group will meet for its first session at the State Capitol Tuesday, according to a news release from the governor's office.

"I am confident that this group of talented health care leaders will bring forward innovative ideas to help keep Oregonians safe from the risks of vaping-related illnesses," Brown said in the news release.

Brown's attempt to ban the sale of flavored vaping products came around the height of an outbreak of lung damage and death associated with vaping, which resulted in 2,668 hospitalizations for lung injury and 60 deaths across the country as of Jan. 14. Two people died of lung damage in Oregon.

There never was a strong link between the outbreak and flavored vaping products in particular, which lead to push back from vape shops in Oregon when Brown announced her executive order. Though the cause of the outbreak has been elusive, recently the federal government has given more credence to the idea that vitamin E acetate, an additive often found in black market THC vapes, is the likely culprit in the lung damage cases.

The membership of the Vaping Public Health Work Group includes:

State Sen. Floyd Prozanski (D-South Lane and North Douglas counties)State Sen. Bill Hansell (R-Athena)State Rep. Ron Noble (R-McMinnville)State Rep. Sheri Schouten (D-Beaverton)Lillian Shirley, Oregon Health Authority public health directorSteve Marks, Oregon Liquor Control Commission executive directorLou Savage, Department of Consumer and Business Services acting directorNia Ray, Oregon Department of Revenue directorAlexis Taylor, Oregon Department of Agriculture directorDr. Dean Sidelinger, state public health officer and state epidemiologistDr. Mary McKenzie, Legacy Health director of pulmonologyDr. Brian Druker, OHSU Knight Cancer Institute directorDr. Serena Black, PeaceHealth pediatric hospitalistDr. Peter Reed, pediatricianDr. David Lehrfeld, emergency medicineSusan Pinnock, Washington County public health nurseChristopher Friend, American Cancer SocietyChristina Bodamer, American Heart AssociationMichael Collins, Director of Managed Care for the Confederated Tribes of Warm SpringsRob Bovett, Association of Oregon CountiesRodger Voelker, Cascade Chemistry senior analytical chemistJim Ferraris, Woodburn chief of policeMike Getlin, Oregon Industry Progress Association

___

(c)2020 The Register-Guard (Eugene, Ore.)

Visit The Register-Guard (Eugene, Ore.) at www.registerguard.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.