Health is of high priority for every individual and pursuit of health is of increasing significance to nation’s economy and social justice. President Obama in his first year in office has made health reform believing that improving accessibility, affordability, and quality of healthcare is vital to achieve social justice. Health policy in United States has advanced gradually through modest steps of trustworthy decisions. Policy is what the government says and does about perceived problems. Policy making is how the government decides what will be done about perceived problems. Policy making is a process of interaction among governmental and nongovernmental actors; policy is the outcome of that interaction. Besides government there are non-governmental organizations and industry which affect the policy making platforms. Kingdon(3) discuss that politicians, civil servants, lobbyists, advisors, domain experts, auditors, media and consumers are part of policy making.
The US Food and Drug Administration has officially raised the minimum age to buy tobacco products like cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, and vaping products that contain nicotine from 18 to 21.After President Donald Trump signed the new age limit into law on December 20 as part of a larger government funding bill, the federal agency also released its updated rules around the sale of tobacco and vaping products — expressly prohibiting theirsale to anyone under the age of 21.But its not implemented yet in many states including Arizona and still has some unknowns. FDA still needs to promulgate the rule and how they’re going to implement that,” according to Arizona Attrorney General (2).
During last year’s legislative session, Senator Heather Carter proposed HB 2357 which would have done several good things including classifying vaping products in the same category as tobacco, including vaping products in the Smoke Free Arizona Act, and explicitly allowing cities and towns to impose their own stricter regulations (including having a 21 year old buy age). Sadly, that bill didn’t pass. Senator Carter also proposed SB 1363 last session, which would have moved the tobacco and e-cigarette buy age to 21. Sadly, that bill never even received a hearing.
Currently it is the 2020 legislative session and its show time for public health legislative advocacy. Over the coming weeks and months, our Arizona elected officials are influencing to make evidence-based public health policy decisions. Public opinion can influence policy making negatively and positively. Lobbyist plays an important role in giving information to policy makers and also can assist them (2). When communities get involved in certain issues, the actors on the policy making platform can get the attention of the government to make a policy come true.
References
1) Lawmaker warns against bill pushed by vaping industry – Arizona Capitol Times. (n.d.). Retrieved February 16, 2020, from https://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2019/04/29/lawmaker-warns-against-bill-pushed-by-vaping-industry/
2) Longest, B. B.Jr. (2010) Health policy making in United States (5th ed). Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press.
3) Kingdon, J.W. (2011). Agendas, alternatives, and public policies.(2nd ed.). Glenview, IL: Pearson Education Inc.
Annie's Blog 
Annie, as we all know, vaping has become a wide-spread epidemic in the last few years, especially among adolescents. Despite of all the negative publicity, and recent vaping-related deaths, many people do not see vaping as a serious health threat. During my clinicals, I have met so many parents who know for a fact that their teen is vaping, but choose to look the other way, refusing to admit that this is a problem, and often justifying their complacency by saying, “Oh, it could be so much worse than this. Look at what other kids are doing these days”. Some parents even go as far as buying vaping supplies for their teenagers because they want them “to be happy”, or “to stay out of trouble”.
I do find it sad and alarming that HB 2357 proposed by Senator Carter did not pass during last year’s legislative session. It would have made it more difficult for underage population to buy vaping products, a step in the right direction that could potentially save some lives. SB 1363, also proposed by Senator Carter, would have raised the tobacco and e-cigarette buying age to 21, but never received a hearing in the Senate. Our children are being targeted with the marketing campaigns that advertise vaping products that sound more like delicious desserts. It is our responsibility as adults and parents to try and protect them from developing a potentially life-long addiction and health issues.
As Senator Carter stated on her website, “E-cigarette usage, or “vaping”, is a public health epidemic intentionally deceiving our children. Last session, I introduced a bill to reclassify e-cigarettes as tobacco products to help regulate their accessibility to minors. In stepped Big Tobacco, with pockets full of money and lobbyists, who killed the bill. I will reintroduce a similar bill next session to codify a solution to this unhealthy and dangerous epidemic” (Carter, 2019).
Carter, H. (2019). Protecting a new generation. Retrieved from https://voteheathercarter.com/2019/09/
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