© 2024 KLCC

KLCC
136 W 8th Ave
Eugene OR 97401
541-463-6000
klcc@klcc.org

Contact Us

FCC Applications
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Senator Wyden Proposes Taxing E-Cigarettes To Discourage Use Among Teens

Provided by Hank Stern
/
Senator Ron Wyden's Office

As the vaping industry continues to reel from a string of user fatalities and illness, Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden is pushing a federal tax on e-cigarettes.

Wyden says his legislation would expand the definition of taxable tobacco products to include e-cigarettes.  The excise tax he’s seeking would be equal to those currently applied to cigarettes, or $1.01 per pack of 20.

A Lane County public health official says vaping among 11th graders has more than doubled since 2013.  Wyden says lately he’s been talking with youth about the dangers of e-cigarettes. 

“And I pointed out that in 1994, I got the tobacco executives under oath when I questioned them, and they all said that nicotine was not addictive," says Wyden.  "Which was a lie to the American people, and was key to getting a settlement with the tobacco companies.”

Wyden says with e-cigarette products taxed, use would decrease, particularly among younger users.

Copyright 2019, KLCC.

Brian Bull is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Oregon, and remains a contributor to the KLCC news department. He began working with KLCC in June 2016.   In his 27+ years as a public media journalist, he's worked at NPR, Twin Cities Public Television, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Wisconsin Public Radio, and ideastream in Cleveland. His reporting has netted dozens of accolades, including four national Edward R. Murrow Awards (22 regional),  the Ohio Associated Press' Best Reporter Award, Best Radio Reporter from  the Native American Journalists Association, and the PRNDI/NEFE Award for Excellence in Consumer Finance Reporting.