e-cigarette.JPG

An e-cigarette emits a smoke-like vapor, which contains nicotine but no tar. Health effects are debated.

(The Associated Press)

They come in flavors like gummy bear, chocolate and bubble gum -- and there's

to prevent minors from picking up the latest candy-flavored

.

That worries lawmakers, who fear such flavors in the growing e-cigarette market will simply entice more youths to start smoking.

Rep.

, R-Albany, hopes to change that and plans to introduce legislation in the February 2014 session to ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. Officials with tobacco companies and health organizations say they support such efforts, paving the way for possible passage.

"I get the impact of what smoking does," Olson said. "I'd be really surprised if this bill doesn't pass easily through the building."

<a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/7619294/">Should Oregon ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors?</a>

Olson said he spoke with

, two Salem lobbyists who

, and both support the upcoming legislation.

Rainey referred questions to a spokesman for Reynolds American Inc., the parent company of

.

"RAI and its operating companies support laws that require e-cigarettes to be sold behind the counter only to legal-age adult consumers, and urge positive action by states that do not yet have such legislation," Richard J. Smith wrote in an e-mail.

E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that allow users to inhale a vapor mix consisting of nicotine, flavor additives and other chemicals. They do not contain tobacco and, in Oregon, are not subject to age restrictions or cigarette taxes that apply to traditional cigarettes.

Facts and figures

5.2 percent of 11th graders and 1.8 percent of eighth graders reported using e-cigarettes in past 30 days in 2013 Oregon Healthy Teens Survey

1.8 percent of 11th graders and 1.3 percent of eighth graders reported using e-cigarettes in past 30 days in 2011 survey

at least 27 states, including Washington and California, ban sale of e-cigarettes to minors

Gov. John Kitzhaber in 2011 banned use of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, in state buildings and on state grounds

University of Oregon included e-cigarettes as part of its tobacco-free campus policy

Umatilla

E-cigarettes not included in statewide indoor smoking ban

Source: Oregon Health Authority

Officials at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have indicated they plan to soon regulate e-cigarettes, but until then,

.

At least 27 states ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors, according to the Colorado-based

, a bipartisan professional group that aids lawmakers.

Local health officials say it's time Oregon follows suit.

"They're intended to deliver nicotine, and there's no reason to think they're less addictive than cigarettes," said Dr. Bruce Gutelius, a deputy state epidemiologist with the

. "We know people who use these devices will potentially be addicted to nicotine, especially with increasing use among kids."

About 5.2 percent of 11th-graders reported using e-cigarettes in the previous 30 days, according to the

.

Across the country, the percent of middle and high school students who use e-cigarettes

, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Others say e-cigarettes can help those addicted to nicotine quit smoking because nicotine levels in vapors vary.

Besides banning e-cigarette sales to minors, public health advocates say the state should also tax e-cigarettes like traditional cigarettes.

"We think that's a way to keep them out of youth," said Carrie Nyssen, the regional director of advocacy for the

. "They're a nicotine-delivery device, and so it's just another way to hook kids on tobacco."

Smith, the spokesman for Reynolds, said the company opposes efforts to tax its e-cigarettes like tobacco cigarettes.

The interim

on e-cigarette regulation and taxation. Committee Chairman

, D-Beaverton, said he's sure hearings will be held on Olson's proposed legislation and "we may well move that."

-- Yuxing Zheng