Vapor products, including e-cigarettes, vape pens, electronic drug delivery devices, and other devices, heat a solution typically containing nicotine, flavorings, solvents, and other chemicals into an aerosol that users inhale. The availability and use of vapor products has dramatically increased in recent years, nationally and locally.

Vapor products containing nicotine are commonly marketed as a preferred alternative to smoking tobacco despite many unanswered questions about product safety, efficacy for harm reduction and cessation, and overall impact on public health.

Vapor products have a high appeal to youth and use is rapidly increasing among teens and young adults, including among those who have never smoked cigarettes or used other tobacco products. Inhalation of nicotine can cause adverse effects on adolescent brain development, lead to addiction to nicotine, and potentially lead to increased smoking.

Nicotine is a highly addictive drug and nicotine exposure, firsthand or passively, can adversely impact maternal and fetal health during pregnancy, and adversely impact adolescent brain development. Concentrated nicotine solutions used in vapor products can cause poisonings or death if ingested or absorbed through the skin, especially in children.

The chemical ingredients of solutions used in vapor products are not standardized or regulated, and neither manufacturers nor retailers are required to disclose chemical content. Consumers have no way of determining exactly what substances they are inhaling or what the health consequences of such inhalation might be. Scientific analysis, including by the United States Food and Drug Administration, shows vapor products release fine and ultrafine particles of solvents, flavorings, and chemical byproducts produced in the heating process that can include carcinogens, heavy metals, and other hazardous chemicals. Adverse health consequences may result from direct or passive exposure to this unknown mixture of potentially harmful chemicals, especially in vulnerable populations including children, pregnant women, and individuals with compromised lung function.

Vapor products are commonly used to inhale marijuana or THC concentrates, and may be used to inhale illegal drugs. Enforcement of state law prohibiting use of marijuana in public places and laws against use of illegal drugs is complicated by the use of vapor products in public places because property owners and others cannot discern the substance being inhaled.

Pursuant to Chapter 70.05 RCW, local jurisdictions are not only responsible to enforce the public health statutes of the state but are also charged with the duty and empowered to enact such local rules and regulations as are necessary in order to prepare, promote and improve the public health within its jurisdiction. [Ord. 16-002. Ord. 15-002, Eff. 12/10/15. Prior code § 14.2].