e-Cigarettes taken off store shelves

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Last Friday, May 3, 2024, Samoa News was told by several retail grocery stores it visited that DoH had told the owners of the stores that their e-cigarettes or ‘vape’ products were to be taken off the shelf — forthwith — as they have been outlawed in the territory.  Local stores can no longer sell vapes.

For many ‘vapers’ on island, they told Samoa News they were taken by surprise at the restriction and asked when was the bill signed into law by the governor.

Unfortunately, Samoa News was unable to verify when the bill was signed.

Samoa News has reached out to the local Health Department for comment and verification, as well as to the Governor’s Office.

However, according to our archives, a bill in March of this year was introduced in the Senate by Senator Magalei Logovi’i, which stated that “it is critical that we update our Tobacco Restrictive Act to keep up with new and evolving tobacco and nicotine products targeting young people.

“It is still our goal to protect the health and well-being of our youth and young adults from the dangers of tobacco consumption.”

The bill, as reported by Samoa News, would amend the existing tobacco restriction law by increasing the smoking age from 18 to 21 (purchase can only be to those 21 and older), by increasing the annual license fee to sell tobacco products from $25 to $300 per year, and would prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco products other than tobacco and menthol flavors.

This includes but is not limited to electronic delivery systems including e-cigarettes, e-liquids, gels, dissolvable, pipe tobacco, dip, snuff, etc.

Violations will be referred to the Attorney General’s Office and will be prosecuted as a class A misdemeanor, the bill says. Penalties will range from not less than $1,000 for the first violation, not less than $2,000 for the second, not less than $3,500 for the third and $5,000 for each violation in excess of three.

The bill’s preamble provides local statistics compiled in 2022 on the adverse health effects from tobacco use, afflicting the youth of American Samoa.

“According to the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) from the Department of Education, which is a biennial survey collected from students across both middle and high schools in American Samoa, 20% of 1,802 survey respondents in grades 6-8 had tried cigarette smoking.

“Nearly 13% of 1,831 survey respondents have used an electronic vapor product (e-cigarette).

Displays that the American Samoa Department of Health Tobacco Program, in collaboration with the American Samoa DOH Behavioral Health Services Division took to Lauli'I Elementary School this week where students from Levels 5-8 were educated on what e-cigarettes and vaping are exactly, and the dangers and risks they do to the body. [DOH photo]

“Also according to the YRBS, of 2,091 survey respondents in grades 9-12 (ages 14 to 18 years and older), 31.8% reported that they frequently smoked cigarettes on 20 or more days during the 30 days before the survey and nearly 16% used an electronic vapor product (e-cigarette) on at least 1 day during the 30 days before the survey,” the bill’s Preamble revealed.

The bill points out that the aim of increasing the smoking age from 18 to 21 was actually initiated by the federal government on December 20, 2024, when they amended the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act making it illegal for retailers to sell any tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21.

Currently, 32 states and the territory of Guam have passed the amended Federal Act known as “Tobacco 21” legislation.

The proposed Senate bill accuses and exposes tobacco companies for not hesitating to make their “tobacco and nicotine products attractive to minors and young adults with their advertisements and displays.

“They add flavors to their products to attract younger and younger individuals. Therefore, we must be just as vigilant in our efforts to curtail their pervasive advertisements and displays for tobacco and nicotine products which would include a ban on all tobacco and nicotine product advertisements and displays.

“The popularity of tobacco products such as e-cigarettes/vape pens that are available in a variety of flavors, has made smoking more appealing to youth. Increasing the legal age to 21 also puts most purchasers outside the social circle of most high school students,” the proposed bill reasoned.

In March 2024, the bill was unanimously passed in third reading during a Senate regular session in a vote of 13-0.

In January of this year, the House introduced a bill to raise the legal age to purchase tobacco materials from 18 to 21. It basically pointed to the same statistics used in the Senate bill that was introduced by Sen. Magalei. It also in particular identified “the popularity of Tobacco products such as e-cigarettes/ vape pens and variety of flavors available” that “has made smoking more appealing to youth.

“This makes it even more critical to ensure that laws are in place to protect our vulnerable population against the long- term health consequences of smoking,” the House bill noted.

Samoa News has no record of either bill passing both chambers and sent to the governor to be signed into law.

Of note, the Senate bill if passed ‘as is’, allows for e-cigarettes that are not flavored, which are common off-island.