Vaping is not Smoking: Anti-Ecig Activists Dealt Blow After Judges Ruling
A New York judge handed a victory to vapers Feb. 5, declaring vaping is not the same as smoking and e-cigarette use is not necessarily banned in all the same places as smoking.
“An electronic cigarette neither burns nor contains tobacco,” said the court. “Instead, the use of such a device, which is commonly referred to as ‘vaping,’ involves the inhalation of vaporized e-cigarette liquid consisting of water, nicotine, a base of propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin and occasionally, flavoring.”
The issue was brought to the court in the case of People v. Thomas, after vaper Shawn Thomas was issued a citation on the subway and subsequently challenged the citation in court. New York law defines smoking as “the burning of a lighted, cigarette, pipe or any other matter or substance which contains tobacco.”
The state claimed there was no need for a specific state-wide ban on vaping to justify the citation, since “the courts of New York have yet to make a determination as to whether electronic cigarettes are to be viewed any differently under these sections than tobacco cigarettes.”
Read more: Vaping Is Not Smoking: Anti-E-Cig Activists Dealt Blow After Judge’s Ruling
A New York judge handed a victory to vapers Feb. 5, declaring vaping is not the same as smoking and e-cigarette use is not necessarily banned in all the same places as smoking.
“An electronic cigarette neither burns nor contains tobacco,” said the court. “Instead, the use of such a device, which is commonly referred to as ‘vaping,’ involves the inhalation of vaporized e-cigarette liquid consisting of water, nicotine, a base of propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin and occasionally, flavoring.”
The issue was brought to the court in the case of People v. Thomas, after vaper Shawn Thomas was issued a citation on the subway and subsequently challenged the citation in court. New York law defines smoking as “the burning of a lighted, cigarette, pipe or any other matter or substance which contains tobacco.”
The state claimed there was no need for a specific state-wide ban on vaping to justify the citation, since “the courts of New York have yet to make a determination as to whether electronic cigarettes are to be viewed any differently under these sections than tobacco cigarettes.”
Read more: Vaping Is Not Smoking: Anti-E-Cig Activists Dealt Blow After Judge’s Ruling
