U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden on Wednesday said he will introduce legislation next week to tax e-cigarettes amid a multi-state outbreak of severe lung disease, including a recent death under investigation in Oregon of someone who used such vaping devices.

Wyden, a ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, made the announcement at Multnomah County’s Health Department, joined by county health Director Patricia Charles-Heathers, county Chairwoman Deborah Kafoury and Commissioner Sharon Meieran.

Wyden cited statistics that 40 percent of high school seniors have reported using e-cigarettes. Charles-Heathers said many kids are unaware of the risk from the unregulated e-cigarettes. Meieran, an emergency room doctor, said one pot of e-cigarette Juul is equal to the nicotine of 20 cigarettes. As a parent, she said she’s heard of students vaping not only in high school bathrooms but in their classrooms.

“A new generation of nicotine users has essentially been created almost overnight,’’ Wyden said.

The Oregon Democrat said he expects that taxing e-cigarettes will help limit their use among teenagers and will challenge vaping industry executives and lobbyists, who likely will put up a fight.

“I think that can be a part of any responsible solution,’’ he said.

Wyden’s announcement came after Oregon health officials announced Tuesday that a middle-age Oregonian died in July from severe lung disease after vaping cannabis. The person had recently used an e-cigarette or vaping device containing cannabis purchased from a cannabis dispensary, according to the Oregon Health Authority.

The death is the first in Oregon connected to electronic cigarettes. If confirmed by the federal government, it would be one of just two such deaths nationwide.

State health officials said they are investigating the case but released few details of the circumstances or the age, gender and residence of the person who died. They have not identified what kind of cannabis product the patient had used.

But they said the patient’s symptoms were consistent with those of more than 200 similar cases in a national cluster of respiratory illness, mostly affecting teenagers and young adults, in at least 25 states.

They’ve been hospitalized with symptoms including shortness of breath, cough, chest pain, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, fever or weight loss. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the affected states haven’t identified a cause, but all cases have reported e-cigarette use or vaping.

“Many cases have reported cannabis use in the vaping products but not all,’’ said Jennifer Vines, Multnomah County deputy health officer.

Vaping exposes users to many different substances, including flavorings, nicotine, cannabinoids and solvents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“CDC has been warning about the identified and potential dangers of e-cigarettes and vaping since these devices first appeared,’’ Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the center’s director, said in a statement Friday after a death in Illinois. “E-cigarettes are not safe for youth, young adults, pregnant women, or adults who do not currently use tobacco products.’’

The American Vaping Association, an advocacy group, issued a statement arguing that “tainted black market THC products’’ are to blame for the illnesses. It called on federal officials to clear nicotine vaping products of suspicion.

Wyden said health officials haven’t conclusively determined what’s causing the illnesses and he’s skeptical of the vaping industry’s defense of their products, having seen the tobacco industry executives mislead lawmakers 20 years ago by claiming their products weren’t addictive.

While e-cigarettes have been pitched as an “off-ramp’’ for smokers who want to quit, Wyden said, “I think e-cigarettes may be acting as an on-ramp to a lifetime of nicotine addiction. … This needs to be treated as a serious public health challenge.’’

Also Wednesday, Michigan became the first state to ban sales of flavored e-cigarettes in an effort to curb teen vaping.

Kafoury said she’s lobbied for a state tax on e-cigarettes as well, adding that more needs to be done to combat “the myth’’ that e-cigarettes and vaping are safe.

State lawmakers in their last session referred to voters a measure that would raise taxes on cigarettes and cigars and create a new tax on vaping products. It goes to voters on Nov. 3, 2020.

The measure, certified for the ballot after receiving final approval from state lawmakers on June 30, would increase the tax on a pack of cigarettes by $2. It would increase the cap on the tax on cigars from 50 cents to $1.

And it would enact a tax on tobacco “inhalant delivery systems,” commonly known as e-cigarettes, at a rate of 65 percent of the wholesale price. Revenues would go to the Oregon Health Authority for medical and healthcare-related programs such as the state’s Medical Assistance Program, mental health programs, and other programs concerning tobacco and nicotine health issues. Taxes from the measure, if passed, would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2021.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

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