COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — James Barbour has owned Vapor Cafe in Coeur d’Alene for 10 years now. He says that he’s been getting health-related questions since the first day he opened the shop.
“And we would go, 'Oh jeez we just got started. It’s going to be over with as soon as we start?'" Barbour said.
In recent weeks, those questions have been magnified across the nation after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said people should consider not using e-cigarettes and vaping devices as it looks into cases of vaping-related lung illnesses.
Initial reports had the CDC looking into 450 cases in 36 states. That number has now gone down to 380 but they are still looking into six deaths possibly linked to vaping.
In Spokane County, the state Department of Health is reviewing three cases to see if they meet CDC guidelines for vaping-related illnesses.
Two cases of respiratory disease related to the use of vaping products have also been confirmed in Idaho.
In the report, the CDC acknowledges that experts don’t know the specific cause for the recent string of these illnesses and mentions that people should never buy any vaping products off of the street.
Barbour is confident these kinds of reports won’t harm his business and is willing to roll with the punches. He said he’s seen benefits from customers that switch from tobacco cigarettes to vaping.
“I’m not worried. I’m not worried and I don’t think that it’s a harmful product. I think that whatever the regulatory bodies decide on any level, state or federal. They’ll probably make the correct decision for the safety of the public.”