A new editorial in the Chicago Tribune:
Editorial: The buzz about e-cigarettes - chicagotribune.com
Cigarettes are awful for your health. That's undisputed. But the debate over the electronic alternative known as e-cigarettes is just lighting up. Mayor Rahm Emanuel supports a ban on the use of e-cigarettes wherever smoking is prohibited, but the City Council has shown little enthusiasm for that.
Chicago's proposed ordinance, introduced by Ald. Will Burns, 4th, and Ald. Edward Burke, 14th, is promoted as an initiative to protect children, but it would have a much wider impact. E-cigarettes would be banned from all smoke-free environments, and stores would be required to sell them behind the counter. That ordinance has been stalled, but an ordinance that would prohibit the sale of menthol-flavored tobacco products within 500 feet of Chicago schools has been approved by two council committees.
The new state law and the city ordinance that won favor in committee focus on restricting this nicotine-delivery device to kids. And that, for now, seems like the right approach. Illinois and other states had good cause to ban tobacco smoking in public places — second-hand smoke poses a known health risk. E-cigs may be a nuisance to people who see others using them, but we're not talking about second-hand smoke.
The absence of a broad government ban doesn't mean that people puffing e-cigs will start to show up everywhere. Many businesses and agencies have set their own bans. You can't smoke e-cigarettes at the United Center, on CTA buses or trains or in Starbucks stores. Nearly all major U.S. airlines prohibit e-cigarettes on their planes. It's our sense that most e-cig users think twice about where they puff away because of public repulsion toward smoking.
There's likely to be a renewed push in Chicago, and perhaps in the Illinois legislature, for a broad ban on e-cigarette use in public. Let's learn more; there's no reason to rush. Keep the focus on the prohibition of sale to minors.
Editorial: The buzz about e-cigarettes - chicagotribune.com
Cigarettes are awful for your health. That's undisputed. But the debate over the electronic alternative known as e-cigarettes is just lighting up. Mayor Rahm Emanuel supports a ban on the use of e-cigarettes wherever smoking is prohibited, but the City Council has shown little enthusiasm for that.
Chicago's proposed ordinance, introduced by Ald. Will Burns, 4th, and Ald. Edward Burke, 14th, is promoted as an initiative to protect children, but it would have a much wider impact. E-cigarettes would be banned from all smoke-free environments, and stores would be required to sell them behind the counter. That ordinance has been stalled, but an ordinance that would prohibit the sale of menthol-flavored tobacco products within 500 feet of Chicago schools has been approved by two council committees.
The new state law and the city ordinance that won favor in committee focus on restricting this nicotine-delivery device to kids. And that, for now, seems like the right approach. Illinois and other states had good cause to ban tobacco smoking in public places — second-hand smoke poses a known health risk. E-cigs may be a nuisance to people who see others using them, but we're not talking about second-hand smoke.
The absence of a broad government ban doesn't mean that people puffing e-cigs will start to show up everywhere. Many businesses and agencies have set their own bans. You can't smoke e-cigarettes at the United Center, on CTA buses or trains or in Starbucks stores. Nearly all major U.S. airlines prohibit e-cigarettes on their planes. It's our sense that most e-cig users think twice about where they puff away because of public repulsion toward smoking.
There's likely to be a renewed push in Chicago, and perhaps in the Illinois legislature, for a broad ban on e-cigarette use in public. Let's learn more; there's no reason to rush. Keep the focus on the prohibition of sale to minors.
