In this week's episode of Snollygoster, Ohio's politics podcast from WOSU, hosts Mike Thompson and Steve Brown discuss the state's efforts to regulate the vaping industry after a string of vaping-related injuries and deaths. James Jarvis, president of the Ohio Vapor Trade Association, joins the show.
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On this week's episode:
Hands Off My Vape
State officals, including Gov. Mike DeWine, are working to fight the use of e-cigarettes. Vaping is on the rise among teenagers, and officials say that use of e-cigarettes among high school students has increased 135% in the past three years. DeWine says vaping is undoing all their work to get kids to stop smoking.
Vaping-related illnesses and deaths in recent months have given fuel to the anti-vaping movement, though the CDC says that the majority of the cases come from users of illicit THC vape products, rather than nicotine.
DeWine wants the state to ban flavored e-cigarettes, which he says hook teenagers on vaping. The vapers are not going quietly, however.
Dozens of e-cigarette supporters rallied at the Ohio Statehouse the week carrying signs that read, "We Vape, We Vote," "Tastes Great, Less Killing," and "Mango Is Not a Crime." They argue vaping is safe and helps people quit smoking.
Bailout Blues
Supporters of Ohio’s new nuclear power plant bailout are going all-out trying to keep a repeal off the ballot.
First, supporters of the $150 million-per-year rate-payer bailout ran ads saying the Chinese are coming to take over Ohio’s energy grid. Then they hired blockers to shadow signature gatherers in an attempt to convince people not to sign.
Now a group linked to the owner of the nuclear plants is running Facebook ads telling people who have signed the petition how they can remove their names from it.
Snollygoster Of The Week
Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, opened last week’s questioning of the director of National Intelligence by reading from the infamous transcript of the conversation between President Trump and Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
But rather than letting the transcript stand on its own, Schiff decided to take some poetic license with a dramatic embellishment of its contents.
If you have a suggestion or comment for the show, email snollygoster@wosu.org.
