COLUMBUS, Ohio - During the coronavirus pandemic, some Ohio vape shops remain open. Some offer curbside service only. And others are closed, some on the orders of public health officials.

Gov. Mike DeWine’s latest stay-at-home order doesn’t single out vape shops as essential. The Ohio Vapor Trade Association has taken that to mean they should be closed.

But that doesn’t mean they agree with the sentiment. Association President James Jarvis said that some smokers switch to vaping, and stores have low- and no-nicotine products to help them.

“Customers call the store, they don’t want to smoke,” he said. “We’re the consumer-created solution to the tobacco epidemic.”

Yet Dr. Rob Crane, founder and president of Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation, believes now is a perfect time to quit smoking and vaping, since people are at home and their day-to-day habits have changed. They shouldn’t be consuming nicotine near kids, and the social aspect of smoking and vaping outside work or a bar is gone, he noted.

What does the research say about smoking and vaping and coronavirus?

There is good evidence that smoking can make COVID-19 worse, first reported in the Chinese Medical Journal, where it found smokers were 14 times more likely to have more serious cases or die from the virus, said Crane, a physician at Ohio State University.

Earlier this month, the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease asked smokers to quit and tobacco companies to stop selling their products.

When smokers inhale nicotine, the cilia -- tiny hairs in the lungs that sweep away foreign particles -- are paralyzed. The lung’s protective lining is weakened, he said.

Crane said the data isn’t in on vaping and coronavirus yet.

But e-cigarettes are believed to damage the lungs, causing widespread inflammation.

COVID-19 kills people by an overproduction of white blood cells, Crane said, a reaction called a “cytokine storm” because an excessive immune response ends up fighting healthy lung tissue.

“That inflammatory white blood cell reaction -- the cytokines storming in the deep lungs -- is what kills people,” Crane said. “You can’t clear the amount of debris or fluid.”

That’s why people should quit smoking and vaping, he said, because the lungs need to be strong for any potential virus.

Crane said he doesn’t necessarily call for a closure of all Ohio vape shops, because people can just purchase products online.

But inside vape shops, employees often demonstrate products and can carry coronavirus if they have it.

“If you can see the vapor,” he said. “It’s carrying the virus. It’s microdroplets.”

Jarvis, of the vape trade association, questioned whether it’s reasonable to ask people to quit nicotine at a time when people are under extreme stress.

DeWine said he’s regularly spoken with local government leaders during the pandemic and the issue of inconsistent vape shop operations hasn’t been brought to his attention.

Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton said that smoking and even air pollution take a toll on the lungs.

“We know nicotine is a highly addictive substance,” she said. “People can’t just stop what they’re doing on a dime very easily. We know that. But this is important to know that it is a risk factor.”

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