Susan Westhof, Gilpin County.

Change is in the air in Gilpin County, and new signs have been popping up around the county to ensure everyone is aware.

Did you know Gilpin County is one of a growing number of Colorado counties who have added vaping to their organizational smoke-free policy? In an effort to protect the health and safety of its employees, residents and visitors, the Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners passed a resolution in December 2016 strengthening its organizational smoke-free policy. Per the resolution, vaping is prohibited in all county-owned buildings and vehicles and on all county-owned property, except for in designated smoking and vaping areas that must be located a minimum of 15 feet from any county building. This policy applies to Gilpin

County staff and visitors, and the new signs have been posted near the front of buildings as a reminder.

Vaping is not harmless. A 2018 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report “Public Health Consequences of E-Cigarettes,” states, “Various chemical substances and ultrafine particles known to be toxic, carcinogenic, and/or to cause respiratory and cardiac disease have been identified in e-cigarette aerosols, cartridges, refill liquids, and environmental emissions.”

E-cigarettes, often called vaporizers, pose additional concerns, including the possible concealment of marijuana and other drug use and the negative impacts that the use of these devices can have on existing smoke-free policies as well as youth and adult tobacco use. In April 2015, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that high school and middle school e-cigarette use tripled from 2013-2014, the largest increase in use since tracking began in 2011.

Tobacco-free workplaces create safer and healthier environments for employees and visitors, alike. They not only reduce exposure to dangerous cancer-causing chemicals found in secondhand smoke and secondhand vapor, but they can help encourage those tobacco users who are trying to quit, to do so. Per the American Cancer Society, employers also benefit from these policies by seeing potential reductions in health care and facility maintenance costs as well as reduced risk of fires. Also, as the number of tobacco users at a workplace decreases, employees may be less likely to miss work due to tobacco-related illnesses and employers may qualify for lower rates on health, life and disability insurance coverage.

Gilpin County Government and Gilpin County Public Health are working together to educate Gilpin County employees and visitors to county properties about the county’s smoke and vapor-free policy and about the potential harms of vaping. For more information about vaping or to find resources for help with quitting tobacco, visit www.TobaccoFreeGilpin, email jfanselow@jeffco.us or call 303-239-7022. For more information about the policy, contact Susan Allen at 303-951-3673 or suallen@gilpincounty.org.