Question

What are the tobacco laws in Utah? What is the age requirement to buy tobacco in Utah? What are your thoughts on smokeless tobacco and e-cigarettes? What are the e-cigarette laws in Utah?

Answer 1

The legal age to buy, sell or possess tobacco in most states is 18, with four exceptions. It is 19 in Utah.

Tobbaco laws in utah:

State tobacco laws can be difficult to understand. The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 has helped simplify things at the federal level, but states have varying authority over certain aspects of tobacco control. In Utah, new regulations for newer products (like electronic cigarettes) are about to be enforced, so the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) has compiled the statewide tobacco regulations here.

E-cigarettes laws in utah:

According to Aaron Frazier, executive director of the Utah Smoke-Free Association, the law prohibits citizens of Utah from buying any vaping related products, including e-liquid, from any business except in a face-to-face transaction. ... The law had been promoted as a licensing bill.

Smokeless tobacco and E-cigarettes:

Smokeless tobacco contains at least 3,000 chemicals, including many that you wouldn’t want in your body. Like all forms of tobacco, dip & chew contain nicotine, an addictive drug that gets you hooked on tobacco. Holding one pinch of smokeless tobacco in your mouth for 30 minutes delivers as much nicotine as 3-4 cigarettes.

The use of smokeless tobacco can cause:

• cancers of the mouth, pharynx (throat), and esophagus (the tube that carries food to the stomach)
• shrinking of the gums around your teeth
• cracked lips, white spots, sores, and bleeding in the mouth
• increased risk for heart disease and stroke

Electronic cigarettes have been marketed to smokers as a way to help them quit, but there's no evidence that they actually help people stop smoking. Instead, they've been found to be a health risk for people who use them, as well as for bystanders who breathe in the secondhand vapor (what comes out of the device and the user's mouth) and third-hand vapor (what's deposited on surfaces such as upholstery, clothing, and floors).

E-cigarettes don't fill the lungs with harmful smoke, but that doesn't make them a healthy alternative to regular cigarettes.

When you use ("vape") an e-cigarette, you're still putting nicotine — which is absorbed through your lungs — into your system. In addition to being an addictive drug, nicotine is also toxic in high doses. It was once even used as an insecticide to kill bugs.

Nicotine affects your brain, nervous system, and heart. It raises blood pressure and heart rate. The larger the dose of nicotine, the more a person's blood pressure and heart rate go up. This can cause an abnormal heart rate (arrhythmia). In rare cases, especially when large doses of nicotine are involved, arrhythmias can cause heart failure and death.

After its initial effects wear off, the body starts to crave nicotine. You might feel depressed, tired, or crabby (known as nicotine withdrawal), and crave more nicotine to perk up again. Over time, nicotine use can lead to serious medical problems, including heart disease, blood clots, and stomach ulcers.