Washoe County health officials are urging lawmakers to regulate electronic cigarettes. Reno Public Radio's Esther Ciammachilli reports.
With the number of young people using e-cigarettes growing nationwide, the Washoe County Health District released a position statement this week calling on the state legislature to set up some ground rules.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration doesn't regulate e-cigarettes, but Washoe officials say they should be treated like other tobacco products. That would mean creating laws so that minors can't buy them and people can't use them in areas where traditional cigarettes are banned. That would also mean setting up a tax structure for these items.
Washoe officials say that e-cigarettes are not proven to help smokers quit and they often contain toxic chemicals known to cause cancer and birth defects.