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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

E-Cigarette Tax Takes Effect Saturday in KY

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Friday, July 31, 2020   

FRANKFORT, Ky. - The state's new tax on e-cigarettes goes into effect tomorrow.

Prices for cartridge-based e-cigarettes will increase by $1.50 per pod, and containers of refillable e-cigarette liquid will be taxed at 15% of the wholesale price.

Bonnie Hackbarth, lead staff member with the Coalition for a Smoke-Free Tomorrow said research has shown increasing the price of nicotine products - especially those marketed directly to young people - has been linked to reduced usage. She pointed out that more than 80,000 Kentucky kids have said they've tried vaping.

"Before the Food and Drug Administration's partial ban on flavored e-cigarettes even began," said Hackbarth, "companies had already introduced products that took advantage of one of the loopholes, and that's disposable e-cigarettes. And this tax will apply to those as well."

Until now, e-cigarettes such as JUUL and other brands were the only tobacco products sold in Kentucky not subject to a tax. The Commonwealth joins twenty other states that have imposed similar taxes.

Hackbarth said the move comes at a time when staying healthy has become a priority for more Kentuckians.

"The research shows that if you're a smoker, you're likely to have a more severe case of COVID, if you get it," said Hackbarth. "We don't have detailed research on e-cigarettes' effects on COVID yet, but because COVID is a respiratory disease in part, chances are it's going to exacerbate the symptoms and you're going to have a rougher time."

The long-term health effects of vaping remain unknown, but hundreds of cases of mysterious severe lung damage in e-cigarette users have been documented.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has coined the condition "Vaping, Product Use-Associated Lung Injury." Most of the cases have occurred in teens and young adults.


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