The law

Richard Brede, a United States Submarine Service veteran, was asked on his first day of service if he dipped or smoked tobacco, Brede responded he did not.

“You will,” the other man responded, to the 18-year-old Brede.

The 2015 University of Idaho alumn did take up chewing tobacco at the age of 19.

As of Dec. 20, 2019, the legal age for buying and using tobacco products rose from 18 to 21, after President Donald Trump signed legislation to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, according to the US Food and Drug Administration website.

Brede does not support this change, and, as a veteran, said he doesn’t understand how those in active service will quit using tobacco products if they are not 21 years old.

“You have men and women who have served and smoked and chewed for years,” Brede said. “And then all of a sudden ‘Hey you can’t do it anymore, quit cold turkey.’”

But not all tobacco and nicotine users are in line with Brede. Devin Jones, a Café de Vapor employee, and a vape user for the past two years, “wholeheartedly” agrees with the legal age rise.

“It’s a touchy subject because you do get these people that are fresh out of high school. They’re 18, they can be tried in a court as an adult, they can go fight for their country — and it’s been that way for such a long time,” Jones said. “Without a grandfather clause to get those people in, I kind of understand because the government basically took away their right to buy a product that they’ve always been able to when they hit 18.”

As of now, the FDA has not stated there will be a grandfather clause. A grandfather clause would allow those who are currently 18 to 20 to be able to purchase tobacco products — allowing their former rights to be maintained.

With many 18-year-olds being close in age to minors and friends with them, it allows for a more substantial age gap. Making it so minors are less likely to receive tobacco or nicotine products illegally, Jones said.

In a statement from Governor Brad Little’s office, “The State of Idaho will ensure compliance with federal law regarding the federal decision to raise the federal minimum age for the use of tobacco products. The goal moving forward is to support Idaho retailers as they make necessary changes,” according to a KTVB article on Dec. 27, 2019.

Taj Grocery, a well-known stop for tobacco and nicotine users, is already in compliance, Singh, Taj’s manager, said.

Singh said other than an “increased headache,” they haven’t felt the effects in sales. The shop will have some people under 21 come in and ask, “If they are doing that?” And Singh said it’s not something to do, it’s a federal law.

What is the reality of tobacco and nicotine on UI’s campus?

The University of Idaho has been tobacco-free since July 2016. While students still smoke, chew or vape elsewhere, the perceived notion of how many people are users is much higher than reality.

UI students believe that 10.3% of students used cigarettes every day for the past 30 days. But in reality, 1.5% of students used cigarettes every day for the past 30 days, according to the American College Health Association and National College Health Assessment Fall 2017 report.

And the notion is the same when it comes to electronic cigarettes, or vaping, where UI students believed 12.3% of students used e-cigarettes every day for the past 30 days. But in reality, 2.1% of students used e-cigarettes every day for the past 30 days.

It definitely leads to just that overall perception of that classic college experience. Everyone’s drinking, everyone’s doing whatever drug, everyone’s having sex, everyone’s doing whatever,” Madie Brown, assistant director for health promotion and alcohol and other drug initiatives, said. “When reality, those numbers can be very different.”

Brown said she wants to inform students of the right information and change the perception of how many people are using tobacco or nicotine products on UI’s campus.

“I’m not here to tell you what to do, I don’t care. You can make your own decisions. I’m not your mom,” Brown said. “What I do care about is that you have the right information to make an informed decision if you do choose to use whatever substance.”

Brede remembered UI’s campus before being tobacco-free and was glad he graduated before the change took effect.

“If you’re policing me because I’m dipping on campus, you don’t smell me coming in. My clothes aren’t smelling like cigarettes,” Brede said. “There’s a lot of other things they could focus on, rather than putting up those placards of tobacco- free because people like myself; we’re just going to laugh at it and continue doing what we’re doing, because we’re minding our own business.”

But by campus being tobacco-free, you have students who cannot smoke, chew or vape for substantial periods of their days, which can allow for a decreased use, Brown said.

The substance which has been a rising topic within the young adult community is vaping, the inhalation of smoke, which commonly contains nicotine. While vaping is not allowed on campus, nor are e-cigarettes, there has been talk of people vaping in class because of e-cigarettes easy concealability, Brown said.

Vaping has been recently in the media because of instances of lung injury classified as an e-cigarette or vaping product use- associated lung injury (EVALI). These injuries are most closely associated with vitamin E acetate.

Vitamin E acetate, which is safe to consume but not inhale, was used by some in the community who were diluting their THC solutions, Brown said. But since the product was not water-soluble and instead oil-based, the vapor, when inhaled, was coating the lungs causing them to burn.

Vitamin E acetate was used with e-cigarettes. Most users who only vape nicotine were not a part of this, Brown said.

She understands the concerns on why not to raise the legal age, but she is in full support of the age raise.

“In terms of citizens here either serving or not. There still is a need to look out for health in terms of preventing illness, cancer, other related things that drive up the costs for insurance, medical care,” Brown said. “There’s a lot of reasons behind why (the government) would raise a consumer’s right to buy something for their age.”

Brede, who has dipped for the last 12 years, believes he decides about his health. He is aware of the effects dipping can cause him — like oral cancer — but he’s accepted his choice.

The people behind the smoke

Brede has always faced judgment for his choice to dip, as many people will frown upon him for his “disgusting” habit.

“Some people are like, ‘that’s disgusting,’ well there are a lot of other things that are disgusting,” Brede said.

Jones said he feels the stigma against those who vape has gone down. And most people view vape users as people who are working to better themselves and cut down on their nicotine use.

“(Vaping is) meant so that you can switch over from smoking cigarettes to vaping and then from vaping to vaping a zero milligram per milliliter nicotine and then just quitting,” Jones said. “Passing it off to somebody else who needs it.”

That community is what Jones said he believes has made vaping so popular. He said that while the vape industry may be the technical term, he has always felt it is a family.

Jones first began vaping because of that need for social interaction. He previously worked at Gritman Medical Center and had never smoked a cigarette before, but a few coworkers of his would go out during their breaks and smoke cigarettes.

Jones said he did not want to smoke cigarettes, so he did medical research, spoke to a vape user he knows and felt vaping was the right choice for him. “So, I went out, and I got a vape device that way, I could go out there. I could smoke with them. But I could have something that tasted better and didn’t smell as bad,” Jones said. “That’s the thing about cigarettes, is that they permeate your clothing, and then your clothing smells really bad, vaping not so much.”

Aside from the research he did beforehand, Jones has diminished lungs and exercise-induced asthma, so he goes to a doctor twice a year for check-ups.

Jones said there hadn’t been any evidence that vaping is harming him, and the minute his doctor tells him otherwise, he would quit.

While Jones works at Café de Vapor now, he plans to eventually go back into the medical field to become an X-ray technician. And for Brede, being a long-term dip user, he has been very open with his use
and doesn’t use dip all the time. He is using it more in higher stress situations, during a drive or when he plays video games.

“Yeah, I chew. Most of my friends know it. They don’t judge me on it,” Brede said.” And we’ve talked about this culture of we need to just be open with people, and you’re going to look down on me because I chew.”

Alex Brizee can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @Alex_Brizee