[ Just paste broken links shown in purple directly into your browser - the extra line doesn't matter. Pls. PM me if you have more recent info. about proposed/actual legislation, if you think I've missed an important story, or if you want more tweaks to the formatting program. ]
1) Philadelphia panel has unanimously voted to refer the ord. to the entire city council. (I'm sure someone else will have already posted this to media by the time anyone reads this - see legislation forum.)
2) New Jersey hearings next week (19th) on Gov. Christie's proposed vaping tax, see: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...ual-2-70-pack-cigarette-tax.html#post12501540 and: CASAA: Call to Action! New Jersey's Governor Christie is Proposing a Tax on E-Cigarettes at the Same Rate as Combustible Cigarettes
3) New "vaporless" e-juice introduced by JAC Vapour. Does the adage "out of sight, out of mind" apply?
4) US State legislation: a) IA's simple minor sales/possession ban is ready for the Sen. floor (over the objectdions of ANTZ orgs), which is the last step in passage; b) Colorado's SB14-18 (also a simple minor ban?) has one more cmte to go, and then it's on to the house floor; c) CT's Gov. Malloy introduces a simple minor sales ban; d) WI's SB 440 - the first bill of its kind to explicitly exclude vaping from a clean indoor air act has cleared a Sen. cmte, unfortunately the WI legislature has very few days left in this session, although sponsor is optimistic about passage in 2015; e) possibility of action in UT appears to be remote, despite yesterday's fears.
5) US Cities: a) Waseca MN city council hearing on Thurs (3/18) on proposed ord. to outlaw vaping wherever smoking is banned by MN's indoor clean air act; b) similar proposal in Harrison AR may be heard on the same day (Thurs 3/18); c) Beloit, WI at risk? - local ANTZ may be active; d) Bolingbrook IL adopts vaping=smoking ord. similar to neighboring city of Chicago.
6) US National Association of Convenience Stores urges its members not to sell PVs to minors, even if it's legal to do so.
7) CFTFK and other ANTZ orgs launch new campaign against Altria (formerly PMI) for Marlboro ads in Europe, this is a taste of what they'll do to PV manufacturers with American tax dollars.
Coverage: US States: CT; NJ; IL; MN; WI; IA, AR, CO, AZ, WA, CA.
Also: Excellent Dr. F. interview w/ Gary Cox on ECFZone; C.V. Phillips on why vapers and tobacco smokers have common interests; Dr. Rodu on PG myths; and Dr. Siegel goes after UCR's Talbot for claming that vaping is more dangerous than smoking tobacco.
***
COLLECTIONS
Stories which are related, and not specific to a particular locality are collected at the end.
1) COLLECTION 1: Stories on IA legislature - simple minor sales/possession ban is ready for the Sen. flor - last stop before passage.
2) COLLECTION 2: FDA Too Slow on Regulations / Regulations Overdue (syndicated Bloomberg News editorial which is propagating - also built on "the meme").
3) COLLECTION 3: List of six events which have helped the Tobacco Control Industry to build the "meme."
***
BLOGS, STUDIES, ETC.
Title: Exclusive ECF Interview: Dr Konstantinos Farsalinos
(ECF's InfoZone)
Exclusive ECF Interview: Dr Konstantinos Farsalinos - ECF InfoZone
There's just too much great stuff in here to summarize!
Title: United we stand, because most restrictions on cigarettes will eventually apply to e-cigarettes
(C.V. Phillips' Blog)
United we stand, because most restrictions on cigarettes will eventually apply to e-cigarettes | Anti-THR Lies and related topics
Why vapers should support the rights of smokers - in a nutshell: "The point here is that consumers of low-risk tobacco products should oppose restrictions and taxes that are imposed on smokers, if for no other reason than something in the order of half of those will eventually be imposed on them."
Title: Vapers, Know Your E-Cig Ingredients: Propylene Glycol
(Dr. Rodu's blog)
http://rodutobaccotruth.blogspot.com/2014/03/vapers-know-your-e-cig-ingredients.html
Takes on the "we just don't know" myths about PG.
Title: UC Researcher: Vaping May Be More Hazardous than Smoking
(Dr. Siegel's blog)
http://tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com/2014/03/uc-researcher-vaping-may-be-more.html
Siegel responds to the story reported in yesterday's UC Riverside student paper, (reported in this space) in which Talbot is featured - arguing that vaping may be more harmful than smoking tobacco.
***
WORLD
Title: British E-cigarette Brand Launches Vapourless E-liquid to Address Vaping Bans [Advertisement by the vendor, in a SD CA US CBS affiliate]
http://www.cbs8
.com/story/24953454/british-e-cigarette-brand-launches-vapourless-e-liquid-to-address-vaping-bans
"Emma Logan, Co Founder of JAC Vapour comments:' Our team is committed to developing new products that suit vapers' fast changing needs and the launch of Clear Steam is a great example of this. Vaping has no second hand properties or risks, but many people and businesses see the vapour and assume it must have, or they confuse e-cigarettes with traditional cigarettes. By addressing the visual aspect of vaping, we hope to alleviate these public misconceptions of the product in some situations and enable e-cigarette users to vape without prejudice by adding a vapourless e-liquid to their kit.'[para break omitted]"
It'll be interesting to see how this develops, and/or what might be in this e-liquid (i.e. is it so proprietary that we can't mix our own flavors?). And yes, this is a paid advertisement, but so novel that I figured it would be of interest. No junk.
Title: Global tobacco marketing campaign accused of targeting minors [by CFTFK, etc.]
(US Al Jazeera) http://america.aljazeera
.com/articles/2014/3/11/global-tobacco-marketingcampaignaccusedoftargetingminors.html
CFTFK launches a PR blitz against Altria (formerly PMI) for allegedly targeting minors in its "Be Marlboro" add campaign. The allegations are here: http://global.tobaccofreekids
.org/content/what_we_do/industry_watch/yourethetarget_report.pdf
You can also see the YouTube video of the original Marlboro ads here: http://www.youtube
.com/watch?v=khTXR92L244
Vapers should note that this is exactly what the Tobacco Control Industry is going to start doing to all advertisements for personal vaping products. See the collection below on the Tobacco Control Industry's "Minor Gateway Meme." This space has also reported at least three recent studies done in tobaccocontrol.bmj concerning advertising. No junk.
***
US NATIONAL
Title: Retail group urges youth e-cig ban
(AP) http://townhall
.com/news/politics-elections/2014/03/13/apnewsbreak-retail-group-urges-youth-ecig-ban-n1808530
Junk-free: "According to a position statement obtained by The Associated Press, the National Association of Convenience Stores says that, as a best practice, sales of e-cigarettes should be treated just like sales of other tobacco products. The more than 151,280 convenience stores in the U.S. accounted for nearly $540 million in e-cigarette sales in 2013 [para break omitted]." (Perhaps this is something that CAASA might get involved in. No junk.). For a more detailed (also junk-free) report: http://www.broadwayworld
.com/bwwgeeks/article/NACS-Issues-Position-Relating-to-the-Sale-of-E-Cigarettes-2014031373#
Title: Do e-Cigarettes Threaten the Future of Big Tobacco Companies?
(US Nat'l Bus.) http://www.fool
.com/investing/general/2014/03/12/two-reasons-e-cig-evolution-may-signal-revolution.aspx
This has to be my pick for the strangest news story of the week (month?). The author starts with an excellent point about the interest in flavors, which the author refers to as "flavor vaping." Fantastic: at least he's somewhat knowledeable, as opposed to most writers - especially those who have "letters after their name." Does that mean that vaping has a better chance of surviving the current onslaught of regulation? Apparently his view is that regulatory travesties such as the EU TPD (tobacco products directive) will have less of a chance of regulating vaping out of existence, IF enough people like vaping, and flavor vaping is one reason why this might be so. Conclusion: These users may not just be lapsed smokers; they may have converted to e-cigarettes for good. (Well, that still doesn't help me understand what the "future" of vaping really is. So what if a lot of folks like to "flavor vape?" Lots of people like all kinds of things that gov'ts (often successfuly) prohibit. Anyway at least he's not an idiot.
But then we come to the author's second point. "Vaping has taken a hold on youth."
Does he mean minors? Did we just parachute into Stanton Glantz's vision of reality? Has this author been reading too many of the "ANTZ meme" articles?
Is he truly telling us that a small number "poster kids for the ANTZ" in a few places around the world are going to change the history of vaping versus tobacco smoking?! I could well believe that 5M worldwide adult vapers might be successful in starting an underground movement to build their own PVs with refillable non-proprietary cartridges (after sales of these are outlawed) or to create their own 0% nicotine e-liquids (since gov'ts really can't ban PG, VG, or water-soluable flavoring). But to suggest that a few kids who haven't yet reached puberty are going to change the result of the coming massive worldwide gov't crackdowns on the cost, variety, and availability of vaping experiences ... this is unpersuasive at best.
Incidently it's worth noting that despite the allegations, no one really knows for sure that there are a bazillion nine-to-fifteen year-olds who are vaping. (There are supposed to be thousands of credible ghost and space alien "sightings" out there, too.) And until the author tells me that he is doing more than simply extrapolating from very questionable original sources, I'm going to conclude that the premise behind his second point holds no factual water. (Note: you may have to view the source of this web page if you don't want to register.)
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US: CONNECTICUT
Title: Malloy seeks to ban sale of e-cigarettes to minors in Connecticut
http://www.nhregister
.com/general-news/20140312/malloy-seeks-to-ban-sale-of-e-cigarettes-to-minors-in-connecticut (AP)
Gov. Malloy introduces SB 12 which appears to be a simple minor/sales possession ban. Refreshingly, he doesn't say that flavored e-juices are sold with the specific intent of hooking children on nicotine, merely that minors "could be attracted to them." Of course the standard drivel from the FDA is quoted (we don't know anything about vaping, and the potential risk that they could lead teens to try tobacco cigarettes). Local oncologist parrots the standard "we don't know whether they're safe" line, without saying anything at all about potential cessation/THR benefits.
This is an AP story, so it contains no gratuitous junk, and is being syndicated in many other places. It may be that this bill will be a viable alternative to HB 5286 (see below) which I believe also contains a minor sales ban. A briefer, home-grown but still junk-free report in the Hartford Courant is here: http://articles.courant
.com/2014-03-12/health/hc-malloy-e-cigarette-ban-0413-20140312_1_electronic-cigarettes-e-cigarettes-minors
[ CT's HB 5286 - burdensome labelling requirements whose purposes is to "destroy the e-cig industry" (Bill Godshall) is "just sitting in cmte" according to Greg Conely:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...contents-nicotine-yield-hearing-feb-28-a.html ]
---
US: NEW JERSEY
Title: Christie's NJ e-cigarette tax is hot topic at first budget hearing
(NJ US local paper amalgam site) http://www.nj
.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/03/christies_nj_e-cigarette_tax_is_hot_topic_at_first_budget_hearing.html#incart_river
Brief report on CASAA members' testimony in front of the House (Assembly) budget cmte - apparently the Chair is a vaper. The reporter who wrote the story felt obligated to balance the testimony with junk from a CDC press release (you know: nothing is known about vaping, and we have no idea whether it will lead to more tobacco smoking and not less). When the ALA and other ANTZ org.'s rep.s have their chance to testify, we'll see whether the story is "balanced" with quotes from Dr. Siegel or C.V. Phillips, etc. This is exactly the kind of biased coverage that we've come to expect from the Star-Ledger.
[ NJ's house bill A1080 was originally proposed as a ban on tobacco smoking in parks and beaches, but was immediately ammended to include vaping as soon as it got on to the house floor. See: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...ng-all-public-parks-beaches.html#post12349761 ]
Title: Every breath you take is important to Pulmonologist Dr. Selwyn Levine of Englewood
(NJ US local paper amalgam site) http://www.northjersey
.com/news/249679301_Dr__Selwyn_Levine_of_Englewood_on_e-cigarettes__why_he_s_never_smoked__and_what_you_can_do_to_keep_your_lungs_healthy_take_is_important_to_N_J__pulmonologist.html?c=y&page=1#sthash.JJIIR0If.dpuf
Another physician who recommends vaping, at least as a last resort:
"Dr. Selwyn Levine, a pulmonologist at Holy Name Pulmonary Associates in Englewood and North Bergen, has been in medicine since 1987 [...] Your thoughts on e-cigarettes? It's good business. Obviously, it has been effective in having people stop smoking conventional cigarettes. But the long-term safety of e-cigarettes is a big unknown. Will they introduce their own set of toxins into the lung? In those patients who have failed behavioral counseling, failed nicotine gum or patches, failed some of the medications that we use like Chantix, and who continue to smoke, I have recommended e-cigarettes." No junk, other than what you see in the quote (which really is all there is in the story about vaping). And no, the Dr. is not directly quoted, instead the reporter is paraphrasing - or so it appears.
---
US: ILLINOIS
Title: Outdoor areas approved for McQ's Bar and Grill in Bolingbrook
(Chicago local paper) http://articles.chicagotribune
.com/2014-03-12/news/ct-village-board-meeting-bolingbrook-tl-0320-20140312_1_mcq-documents-bar-and-grill
Very short report says: "The [Bolingbrook Village Board of (?) Supervisors] board Tuesday also voted to classify electronic cigarettes in the same way as tobacco products, subjecting the e-cigarettes to the licensing, sales and other municipal code regulations that tobacco products face." Does that mean indoor vaping is banned, and outdoor vaping can only be done w/i 25 feet of a doorway? Report doesn't say, and there appears to be no village web site.
[ IL currently considering two bills that require vaping supplies (but not non-cigarette tobacco) to be behind the counter, see: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...counter-exempts-tobacco-specialty-stores.html and one bill that would require special packaging: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...-e-cig-products-sold-il-protect-children.html Also worth watching: SB2659, which would ban smoking in cars containing a minor - however the definition doesn't currently include vaping (and is still in the Public Health Cmte, with a status of "postponed." See: Illinois General Assembly - Bill Status for SB2659 And HB 689, which would mandate special packaging in order to protect children (which only has one sponsor at the moment: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...-e-cig-products-sold-il-protect-children.html ]
---
US: MINNESOTA
Title: MN senate committee approves e-cigarette ordinance [sic]
(Duluth MN US NBC affiliate) http://www.northlandsnewscenter
.com/news/local/MN-senate-committee-approves-e-cigarette-ordinance--249958341.html
Report seems to be focused mostly on the testimony of the City Council Pres., so it's a little difficult to discover much about the bill approved by the committee (neither the bill # nor the committee name are mentioned). By process of elimination, this appears to be SF 2027, which does have - as the story mentions - a minor sales and possession ban. However the article omits to point out that it also would define vaping as smoking for purposes of MN's clean air act, thus banning vaping in a number of indoor and outdoor locations. The bill which would raise taxes on e-liquid is in the house, not the sen. See: CASAA: Call to Action! Minnesota E-Cigarette Usage Ban
Title: Waseca council looks to regulate the sale of e-cigarettes
(Waseca Co. MN US local paper) http://www.southernminn
.com/waseca_county_news/news/article_73ecc7f7-263d-548e-88d7-a0dc4acece88.html
Waseca MN city council meets Tuesday March 20th to discuss an ord. that would define vaping as smoking in any location in which smoking was otherwise prohibited by the MN clean indoor air act. Either Matt Black, president of Minnesota Vapors Advocacy, spent too much time with the reporter (bad idea: the media will always quote what you least wish them to), or wasn't as prepared as perhaps he might've been, because there is little in the piece for a nonvaper to take away as a reason for opposing the ord. Meanwhile, the reporter seems to have gone to the ALA's web site (no rep. is quoted) to pull out the standard paragaph indicating that there is "no evidence" that vaping is safe for the vaper or the bystander, and besides that the vapor "contains" heavy metal and carcinogens. (Similar language appears in the proposed ord., but nothing in the story indicates that the vaper rep. addressed this, although he is quoted in responding to the minor gateway argument.) Local vapers are urged to contact their city council members, and/or attend the Tues. 3/20 meeting.
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US: WISCONSIN
Title: Electronic cigarettes bill clears hurdle
(AP) http://fox11online
.com/2014/03/13/electronic-cigarettes-bill-clears-hurdle/
WI's SB 440, which would exempt vaping from WI's indoor clean air act, has cleared the Sen. Judiciary cmte, 3-2. However this junk-free report notes that there are few days left in this session.
[ WI has two bills that would explicitly exempt from the state Indoor Clean Air Act, which CASAA strongly supports: CASAA: Call to Action! UPDATED: SUPPORT Wisconsin SB 440 and AB 762 EXEMPTING E-cigarettes from public use bans! Also see report by Kirstin: http://wivapers.blogspot.com/2014/03/my-two-days-in-wisconsins-capitol.html and: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...6240-wisconsin-updates-wisconsin-updates.html ]
Title: Cities, schools ponder rules for ‘e-cigarettes’
(Beloit WI US local paper) http://www.beloitdailynews
.com/news/cities-schools-ponder-rules-for-e-cigarettes/article_6fe54a4e-a9f6-11e3-85d1-0019bb2963f4.html
Apparently this reporter was assigned to write a story on the CASAA-supported WI legislation from a local (Beloit) perspective. These bills which are currently being heard in the WI legislature would be among the first bills of their kind in the nation to explicitly exempt vaping from indoor clean air acts. Apparently the Beloit city council has no plans to ban indoor/outdoor vaping under its own ord.s, because it hasn't yet received any complaints. Beloit vapers take note about the activities of this local gov't supported charity: "Youth2Youth of Rock County’s Debbie Fisher said one of the many dangers of e-cigarettes is that people may use them more as they can smoke them indoors and they don’t immediately burn out like one cigarette. 'There’s nothing to slow you down,' she said. [...]'It’s new and enticing. The ads are everywhere,' she said. Fisher said E-cigarettes sold in flavors such as 'cherry crush' or 'gummy bear' can be even more alluring to kids. She said Youth2Youth of Rock County will be busy educating the public about the risks of smoking e-cigarettes and the vapors that come out of them. [Para breaks omitted]". Local "health educator" says that vaping "cannot be used as a safe substitute" for tobacco smoking. Other junk in article: CDC minor gateway stuff, but not the more recent meme arising from Dutra & Glantz's JAMA article.
Title: Debate over e-cigarettes heating up in Wisconsin
(Milwaukee WI US local paper radio station) http://www.620wtmj
.com/news/local/E-Cig-Debate-249781111.html
If this reporter was assigned to write this piece appropos of the bills in the WI legislature, I can find no mention of them. Brief interviews with vape shop owner and bar owner, both of whom say some fairly reasonable things. And of course we have a local otolayngologiest at the local Med school who says: "'We do know there are side stream chemicals. We know there are potential carcinogens in the aerosols, we assume they are going to be safer than a regular cigarette but nobody knows the answer to that.' Dr. Campbell would like to see more studies done before he makes a final decision on how e-cigs should be regulated. 'Part of the problem with this whole effort to make electronic cigarettes able to be used in public is that we just don't know enough about them.'[para breaks omitted.]" This is a fairly mild piece of junk as the standards for junk go. (I wasn't aware that side stream emissions were an issue.) Conclusion of the article cites the CDC minor junk statistic.
Title: Smoking e-cigs in public places burns bystanders
(U WI Eau Claire US student paper) http://www.spectatornews
.com/opinion/2014/03/12/smoking-e-cigs-in-public-places-burns-bystanders/
ANTZ-in-training student editorial writer makes the usual tired arguments - if it's called a "cigarette" and it produces something that "looks like smoke" then we should be extremely suspicious of it, because BT burned us before, and they're really behind this. She also buys the minor gateway argument and appears to cite (indirectly) the Dutra & Glantz study. Curiously, she mentions two instances in which someone vaped very close to her, but says nothing about her physical senssations. Perhaps that's because there were none.
Title: Residence Hall Association Council surveys on-campus residents on e-cigarette use in dorms
(U WI La Crosse US student paper) http://www.theracquet
.net/news/residence-hall-association-council-surveys-on-campus-residents-on-e-cigarette-use-in-dorms-1.3150391#.UyIIds5obfg
Junk-free report indicates that the Residence Hall Assn has been surveying residents concerning their views about whether vaping s/b allowed in the dorms. Apparently most students don't even know what it is (that's funny - I thought they all used "vape pens" and "e-hookahs" and were just dying to get their hands on a tobacco cigarette ... but maybe that's only true of ten-year-olds). One has to wonder why the urgency exists here, given the low level of familiarity that the dorm residents seem to have about vaping. A close reading of this story makes Your Correspondent wonder whether there was a non-problem in search of a solution here, based on what appears to be an effort to sell an inevitable new policy which would ban vaping within 25 feet of residence halls as a request be students. This paragraph is particularly interesting: "Michele Juza, the Wentz Hall representative for the Specific Issues committee, experienced mixed results when talking with residents. 'I went around and knocked door-to-door in Wentz Hall and asked residents what they thought about allowing e-cigs to be smoked in residence halls. Most people had never really thought about the issue,' she explained. 'The majority of residents were opposed to smoking in the dorms; however, the issue is so new that many of the people I talked to had yet to form an opinion.'[Para break omitted, boldface added.]"
This seems oddly reminiscent of a student vote at the U. Del which was reported in this space just four days ago. Students were given the choice of voting for a smoke-free campus (in which vaping was defined as smoking) versus no regulations at all. It's pretty easy to get folks to agree that they don't like cigarette smoke (and then include vaping because "a cigarette is a cigarette"). No junk in this piece, surprisingly.
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US: IOWA
Title: Iowa panel supports e-cigarette ban for minors
(AP) http://www.kwwl
.com/story/24959159/iowa-panel-supports-e-cigarette-ban-for-minors
Brief junk-free story notes that IA's simple minor sales/possession ban, IA HF 2109 (formerly HSB 566) is now ready for the sen. floor. ANTZ opposed it in the house unsuccessfully because it didn't go far enough. If this one passes, IA may join a number of other states which are probably safe until the 2015 legislative session (at least from the legislature). No junk, this is an AP story.
---
US: ARKANSAS
Title: E-cigarette ban on agenda for Thursday night's Harrison City Council meeting
(Harrison AR US local paper) http://harrisondaily.com/n2harrison/e-cigarette-ban-on-agenda-for-thursday-night-s-harrison/article_12caebde-a4ba-11e3-a78f-001a4bcf887a
.html
Possible City Council Meeting: Thursday 3/20 (see below for more info.)
Once again, your tax dollars are at work - this time in Arkansas, as the gov't-funded North Arkansas Partnership for Health Education's Tobacco Education Coordinator's draft ordinance will be considered. The proposal would ban vaping wherever smoking is banned under AR's clean indoor air act. "The draft states that e-cigarettes contain nicotine, haven’t been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for smoking cessation and are currently unregulated.It also says that the use of e-cigarettes in places where smoking is prohibited could send a message to youth and other adults that 'these potentially harmful products are in fact safe' and could lead to smoking of actual cigarettes.
Turns out this story was dated March 5th (last Thurs), and I got to it via a brief Sprintfield MO network affiliate's piece. As it happens the city council did meet last Thurs, but discussed the proposal only briefly (it wasn't a "first reading") and will meet again on Thurs 20th to discuss this ord. Area vapers are urged to contact the city for more info, or the Harrison Daily Times. Also see this brief report: http://harrisondaily.com/news/e-cigs-heading-for-committees/article_13423ab6-a895-11e3-96d8-001a4bcf887a
.html
[ HB 360 Expands the indoor clean air act to include vaping. Also requires a 20-ft perimeter for most public places. Still in cmte: http://www.legis.state.ak.us/PDF/28/Bills/HB0360A.PDF ]
---
US: COLORADO
Title: Committee votes to ban new nicotine products for minors
(Denver CO US NBC affiliate) http://www.9news
.com/story/news/local/2014/03/11/nicotine-e-cigarettes-tobacco/6307227/
CO's SB 14-018, which has already passed the sen., is still in the House Health Care and Human Services Cmte, but there is some question among "opponents" about whether it's necessary, according to the piece. No junk in the story except the usual recitation of the new Tobacco Control meme by the state public health Chief Med. Officer - namely, kids who try vaping end up as "heavy [tobacco] smokers." Report says that bill requires "two more readings" before it could become law, even after it passes through the cmte. There seems to be some confusion about what exactly the bill does, or why it's nec'y here at ECF, as well: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...cluding-empty-e-cigs-without-seeing-id-2.html
---
US: ARIZONA
Title: UA tobacco ban smokes out healthier substitutes
(U AZ US student paper) http://www.wildcat
.arizona.edu/article/2014/03/ua-tobacco-ban-smokes-out-healthier-substitutes
Student editorial writer suggests that the new campus-wide "smoke free" policy goes too far, particularly when it comes to including vaping. No junk, although the writer might've benefitted from doing a tad more research. Fortunately, or unfortunately, she includes tobacco smoking as well - in a plea for designated outdoor smoking areas. As with all such appeals, this one may be answered by the usual statistics regarding tobacco smoking, without any consideration for the differences between the effects on users and bystanders of smoke and vapor. While the policy is still under review, we all know what the university administration is likely to decide.
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US: WASHINGTON (STATE)
Title: Smokers’ new e-cigarette option may get snuffed
(Seattle Times & Walla Walla WA US local papers) http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2023105919_westneat12xml
.html http://union-bulletin
.com/news/2014/mar/12/smokers-new-e-cigarette-option-may-get-snuffed/
Junk-free pro-vaping article makes the point that several other pieces have lately - including one in NPR and one in Jonathan Turley's blog - namely, that the rush to tax vaping, especially WA's, is all about tax revenues and not one whit about public health or child eduction, etc.
Title: Council cuts through haze by extinguishing e-cigarette ban
(Yakima WA US local paper) http://www.yakimaherald
.com/news/livenews/2005715-14/council-cuts-through-haze-by-extinguishing-e-cigarette-ban
As readers of this space know, Yakima WA became only the second polity on planet earth to explicitly refuse to ban vaping where tobacco smoking has been prohibited. (And by just one vote out of 7.) Editorial is not pro-vaping by any stretch of the imagination, and says nothing about harm reduction or cessation. The writers limit themselves to one simple point: just because vaping "looks like smoking" doesn't mean that it poses the same risk to bystanders as smoking tobacco cigarettes, or even anything close to that. "The City Council cited lack of proof of harm to others as it correctly voted against grouping e-cigarettes with the smoke-emitting kind and requiring users to stay at least 25 feet from wherever smoking is banned, including parks and buildings that are open to the public." Hmm. Looks as if the ANTZ had just asked for an indoor ban, then they might've gotten further?
[ Washington's HB 2795 has been incorporated into the budget, will impose a 95% tax. See: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...-cigs-95-referred-senate-ways-means-cmte.html and
CASAA: Call to Action! Washington Bill to Impose Excessive 95% Tax on E-Cigarettes text of 2795:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2013-14/Pdf/Bills/House Bills/2795.pdf ]
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US: CALIFORNIA
Title: E-cigarettes: How should they be regulated? Local experts say 'vaping' not as harmless as it may seem
(Eureka CA US local paper) http://www.times-standard
.com/localnews/ci_25334356/e-cigarettes-how-should-they-be-regulated-local?source=rss
Although we find out that AP "contributed to this report" at the end, none of the careful objectivity in this almost-ANTZ-written piece can be used to besmirch the excellent reputation that the Associated Press has in your correspondant's eyes. Local "experts" are the professional ANTZ, who are as usual refusing to acknowledge that PVs are anything more than some kind of plot by BT to increase the number of tobacco cigarette smokers. Are they more "dangerous" than tobacco cigarettes? You be the judge, based on the only info. we have: "'There's just as much, if not more, harsh metal particulate matter in e-cigarettes than commercial ones,' Moerner said. 'The Centers for Disease Control did a national survey of youths from 2011 to 2012 that showed the number of middle and high school students who used e-cigarettes doubled in that time,' Moerner said. [Para breaks omitted.]" Whoops. Looks like they could be more dangerous.
[ CA is under threat from a wide variety of legislation, such as an internet sales ban: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...-shipment-e-cigarettes-anyone-california.html ]
***
COLLECTION 1 - IA STORIES (NO AP CLONES)
(Quad Cites IA US local paper) http://qctimes.com/news/state-and-regional/iowa/iowa-panel-supports-e-cigarette-ban-for-minors/article_b438d0f1-4baf-598c-94d7-ec3807130d7a
.html
(Waterloo IA US NBC affiliate) http://www.kwwl
.com/story/24959975/2014/03/12/senate-committee-approves-e-cigarette-restriction-bill
***
COLLECTION 2: FDA TOO SLOW ON E-CIG. REGULATIONS / REGULATIONS OVERDUE (BLOOMBERG NEWS SERVICE)
First published by Bloomberg News Service, this piece started in CT and is now migrating from the NE. At least two titles have been used so far, and more will likely come.
Look for the first line: "Could someone please send the Food and Drug Administration a copy of the latest study on teenagers and e-cigarettes? The agency obviously needs a push to come out with its overdue regulations." (Refers to the Dutra & Glantz study released last week which claims that e-cigarettes are a gateway for minors to tobacco smoking.)
Previously I've classified this as a general offshoot of the fallout over the combination of the five "meme building events" (see above), but as more knockoffs of this end up around the nation, it needs to be recognized as a separate strain. The general idea should be obvious from what I quoted above: namely, e-cigarettes are creating a new generation of tobacco cigarette smokers, starting with children - therefore the FDA must act to ban flavors, restrict advertising, and emulate the EU's Tobacco Products Directive in other respects.
Title: Editorial: Planned regulations on e-cigarettes are overdue
(Macomb Co. MI US local amalgam web site - listed under "letters") http://www.macombdaily
.com/opinion/20140312/planned-regulations-on-e-cigarettes-are-overdue
***
COLLECTION 3: TOBACCO CONTROL INDUSTRY MINOR GATEWAY MEME - EVENTS TIMELINE
In the future, I intend to keep incrementally augmenting this section to keep track of the gradual growth of the "meme," as a service to those readers who haven't been monitoring the day-by-day progress, as well as a way to evaluate the effectiveness that this meme is having, when it comes to determining how the world views the purpose and effect of vaping.
Meme: E-cigarettes are being deliberately and deceptively marketed to teenagers by the tobacco industry. Once these minors use an e-cigarette, they are seven times more likely to become regular cigarette smokers. Since e-cigarette use is exploding among minors, this will lead to an explosion in the number of tobacco cigarette smokers.
Event 1 - Feb 26: introduction of the Protecting Children From Electronic Cigarette Advertising Act of 2014 (PCECAA) by a group of national US legislators - among them (most prominently) Sens. Boxer (CA), Schumer (NY), and Blumenthal (CT).
Result: Nationwide coverage premised on the idea that e-cigarettes are marketed to children because they are flavored and/or because of the imagery used to market them (depending on the source, this imagery is either celebrity endorsements, sexually titillating advertising, or cartoon characters).
Event 2 - Mar 4: Vape pens article in NYT introduces idea that kids are being lured by PVs which are not called "e-cigarettes" but which are marketed as "vape pens" and/or "e-hookahs" with attractive flavors in order to confuse teenagers.
Result: This piece also created a slew of outraged coverage across the US and overseas about the manner in which the "e-cigarette industry is targeting children."
Title: E-Cigarettes, by Other Names, Lure Young and Worry Experts
http://www.nytimes
.com/2014/03/05/business/e-cigarettes-under-aliases-elude-the-authorities.html
Event 3 - Mar 6: Dutra & Glantz paper published in JAMA Pediatrics which falsely claims (in some places) that the use of e-cigarettes is a causal factor in tobacco smoking, AKA a gateway effect: minors who use e-cigarettes are "seven times more likely" to become regular tobacco smokers.
http://archpedi.jamanetwork
.com/article.aspx?articleid=1840772 Criticized here for confusing causation with correlation: http://tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com/2014/03/conclusion-of-new-glantz-study-on.html [Also criticized by a number of Tobacco Control Organizations, such as the ACS:
Stanton Glantz is such a liar that even the ACS balks: his latest ecig gateway “study” | Anti-THR Lies and related topics
Result: This lead to hundreds of media stories around the world in which e-cigarettes were "linked" with increasing tobacco smoking among young people (despite the fact that these rates have dropped dramatically during the 2011-12 period in question). Paper:
Event 4 - Mar 9: NY Sen. Schumer issues a press release, in which he expresses outrage that e-cigarettes are being marketed to children, who are "seven times more likely" to become tobacco smokers - citing the Mar. 6th JAMA paper.
Result: This press release generated scores of articles around the world:
Title: Schumer Looks To Snuff Out E-Cigarette Marketing To Kids
(NYC CBS affiliate) http://newyork.cbslocal
.com/2014/03/09/schumer-looks-to-snuff-out-e-cigarette-marketing-to-kids/
Event 5 - Mar 10: CT Sen. Blumenthal and Rep. DeLauro hold a news conf. and issue a press release in which they re-iterate the points made in Schumer's earlier press release, and emphasize the issues cited in the March 4th NYT article concerning "vape pens" and "e-hookahs."
Title: Blumenthal, DeLauro: E-hookahs attractive, dangerous, and marketed to children
(Republished from NH Register, New Haven CT local paper) http://www.middletownpress
.com/general-news/20140310/blumenthal-delauro-e-hookahs-attractive-dangerous-and-marketed-to-children
Result: Once again, this received wide and admiring coverage around the US, and in some cases overseas.
Event 6 - Mar 11: IA Sen Harkin and several other sponsoring Sen.s of the PCECAA mail letter to White House, calling for the FDA to release regulations the that FDA originally proposed last fall (but which were rejected by the Office of Management and Budget as too burdensome).
http://www.nationaljournal
.com/library/123450
Result: As of this writing, there are no press reports about this letter - but no news conf. has been called, nor (?) has a press release been issued. Stay tuned for this to generate another hundred stories or so when it does.
***
Google Tips
to see whether there are bad things happening where you live, try this Google search (example for Rhode Island) -
rhode site:casaa.org
(Replace rhode with a single word that describes your city, county, or state. For ex., if you live in Eau Claire, WI - you might use "Claire" to see if something is being proposed at the city level. Don't forget the : (colon), and be sure that there's nothing before or after the colon (not even spaces or tabs.)
You can also try replacing site:casaa.org with e-cigarette to find out what the media is reporting in your area. This is usually most helpful if you use the search tools to search by date. (CASAA doesn't generally issue calls or alerts until a bill is out of a state legislative committee, or is scheduled for a local city or county hearing.)
1) Philadelphia panel has unanimously voted to refer the ord. to the entire city council. (I'm sure someone else will have already posted this to media by the time anyone reads this - see legislation forum.)
2) New Jersey hearings next week (19th) on Gov. Christie's proposed vaping tax, see: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...ual-2-70-pack-cigarette-tax.html#post12501540 and: CASAA: Call to Action! New Jersey's Governor Christie is Proposing a Tax on E-Cigarettes at the Same Rate as Combustible Cigarettes
3) New "vaporless" e-juice introduced by JAC Vapour. Does the adage "out of sight, out of mind" apply?
4) US State legislation: a) IA's simple minor sales/possession ban is ready for the Sen. floor (over the objectdions of ANTZ orgs), which is the last step in passage; b) Colorado's SB14-18 (also a simple minor ban?) has one more cmte to go, and then it's on to the house floor; c) CT's Gov. Malloy introduces a simple minor sales ban; d) WI's SB 440 - the first bill of its kind to explicitly exclude vaping from a clean indoor air act has cleared a Sen. cmte, unfortunately the WI legislature has very few days left in this session, although sponsor is optimistic about passage in 2015; e) possibility of action in UT appears to be remote, despite yesterday's fears.
5) US Cities: a) Waseca MN city council hearing on Thurs (3/18) on proposed ord. to outlaw vaping wherever smoking is banned by MN's indoor clean air act; b) similar proposal in Harrison AR may be heard on the same day (Thurs 3/18); c) Beloit, WI at risk? - local ANTZ may be active; d) Bolingbrook IL adopts vaping=smoking ord. similar to neighboring city of Chicago.
6) US National Association of Convenience Stores urges its members not to sell PVs to minors, even if it's legal to do so.
7) CFTFK and other ANTZ orgs launch new campaign against Altria (formerly PMI) for Marlboro ads in Europe, this is a taste of what they'll do to PV manufacturers with American tax dollars.
Coverage: US States: CT; NJ; IL; MN; WI; IA, AR, CO, AZ, WA, CA.
Also: Excellent Dr. F. interview w/ Gary Cox on ECFZone; C.V. Phillips on why vapers and tobacco smokers have common interests; Dr. Rodu on PG myths; and Dr. Siegel goes after UCR's Talbot for claming that vaping is more dangerous than smoking tobacco.
***
COLLECTIONS
Stories which are related, and not specific to a particular locality are collected at the end.
1) COLLECTION 1: Stories on IA legislature - simple minor sales/possession ban is ready for the Sen. flor - last stop before passage.
2) COLLECTION 2: FDA Too Slow on Regulations / Regulations Overdue (syndicated Bloomberg News editorial which is propagating - also built on "the meme").
3) COLLECTION 3: List of six events which have helped the Tobacco Control Industry to build the "meme."
***
BLOGS, STUDIES, ETC.
Title: Exclusive ECF Interview: Dr Konstantinos Farsalinos
(ECF's InfoZone)
Exclusive ECF Interview: Dr Konstantinos Farsalinos - ECF InfoZone
There's just too much great stuff in here to summarize!
Title: United we stand, because most restrictions on cigarettes will eventually apply to e-cigarettes
(C.V. Phillips' Blog)
United we stand, because most restrictions on cigarettes will eventually apply to e-cigarettes | Anti-THR Lies and related topics
Why vapers should support the rights of smokers - in a nutshell: "The point here is that consumers of low-risk tobacco products should oppose restrictions and taxes that are imposed on smokers, if for no other reason than something in the order of half of those will eventually be imposed on them."
Title: Vapers, Know Your E-Cig Ingredients: Propylene Glycol
(Dr. Rodu's blog)
http://rodutobaccotruth.blogspot.com/2014/03/vapers-know-your-e-cig-ingredients.html
Takes on the "we just don't know" myths about PG.
Title: UC Researcher: Vaping May Be More Hazardous than Smoking
(Dr. Siegel's blog)
http://tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com/2014/03/uc-researcher-vaping-may-be-more.html
Siegel responds to the story reported in yesterday's UC Riverside student paper, (reported in this space) in which Talbot is featured - arguing that vaping may be more harmful than smoking tobacco.
***
WORLD
Title: British E-cigarette Brand Launches Vapourless E-liquid to Address Vaping Bans [Advertisement by the vendor, in a SD CA US CBS affiliate]
http://www.cbs8
.com/story/24953454/british-e-cigarette-brand-launches-vapourless-e-liquid-to-address-vaping-bans
"Emma Logan, Co Founder of JAC Vapour comments:' Our team is committed to developing new products that suit vapers' fast changing needs and the launch of Clear Steam is a great example of this. Vaping has no second hand properties or risks, but many people and businesses see the vapour and assume it must have, or they confuse e-cigarettes with traditional cigarettes. By addressing the visual aspect of vaping, we hope to alleviate these public misconceptions of the product in some situations and enable e-cigarette users to vape without prejudice by adding a vapourless e-liquid to their kit.'[para break omitted]"
It'll be interesting to see how this develops, and/or what might be in this e-liquid (i.e. is it so proprietary that we can't mix our own flavors?). And yes, this is a paid advertisement, but so novel that I figured it would be of interest. No junk.
Title: Global tobacco marketing campaign accused of targeting minors [by CFTFK, etc.]
(US Al Jazeera) http://america.aljazeera
.com/articles/2014/3/11/global-tobacco-marketingcampaignaccusedoftargetingminors.html
CFTFK launches a PR blitz against Altria (formerly PMI) for allegedly targeting minors in its "Be Marlboro" add campaign. The allegations are here: http://global.tobaccofreekids
.org/content/what_we_do/industry_watch/yourethetarget_report.pdf
You can also see the YouTube video of the original Marlboro ads here: http://www.youtube
.com/watch?v=khTXR92L244
Vapers should note that this is exactly what the Tobacco Control Industry is going to start doing to all advertisements for personal vaping products. See the collection below on the Tobacco Control Industry's "Minor Gateway Meme." This space has also reported at least three recent studies done in tobaccocontrol.bmj concerning advertising. No junk.
***
US NATIONAL
Title: Retail group urges youth e-cig ban
(AP) http://townhall
.com/news/politics-elections/2014/03/13/apnewsbreak-retail-group-urges-youth-ecig-ban-n1808530
Junk-free: "According to a position statement obtained by The Associated Press, the National Association of Convenience Stores says that, as a best practice, sales of e-cigarettes should be treated just like sales of other tobacco products. The more than 151,280 convenience stores in the U.S. accounted for nearly $540 million in e-cigarette sales in 2013 [para break omitted]." (Perhaps this is something that CAASA might get involved in. No junk.). For a more detailed (also junk-free) report: http://www.broadwayworld
.com/bwwgeeks/article/NACS-Issues-Position-Relating-to-the-Sale-of-E-Cigarettes-2014031373#
Title: Do e-Cigarettes Threaten the Future of Big Tobacco Companies?
(US Nat'l Bus.) http://www.fool
.com/investing/general/2014/03/12/two-reasons-e-cig-evolution-may-signal-revolution.aspx
This has to be my pick for the strangest news story of the week (month?). The author starts with an excellent point about the interest in flavors, which the author refers to as "flavor vaping." Fantastic: at least he's somewhat knowledeable, as opposed to most writers - especially those who have "letters after their name." Does that mean that vaping has a better chance of surviving the current onslaught of regulation? Apparently his view is that regulatory travesties such as the EU TPD (tobacco products directive) will have less of a chance of regulating vaping out of existence, IF enough people like vaping, and flavor vaping is one reason why this might be so. Conclusion: These users may not just be lapsed smokers; they may have converted to e-cigarettes for good. (Well, that still doesn't help me understand what the "future" of vaping really is. So what if a lot of folks like to "flavor vape?" Lots of people like all kinds of things that gov'ts (often successfuly) prohibit. Anyway at least he's not an idiot.
But then we come to the author's second point. "Vaping has taken a hold on youth."
Does he mean minors? Did we just parachute into Stanton Glantz's vision of reality? Has this author been reading too many of the "ANTZ meme" articles?
Is he truly telling us that a small number "poster kids for the ANTZ" in a few places around the world are going to change the history of vaping versus tobacco smoking?! I could well believe that 5M worldwide adult vapers might be successful in starting an underground movement to build their own PVs with refillable non-proprietary cartridges (after sales of these are outlawed) or to create their own 0% nicotine e-liquids (since gov'ts really can't ban PG, VG, or water-soluable flavoring). But to suggest that a few kids who haven't yet reached puberty are going to change the result of the coming massive worldwide gov't crackdowns on the cost, variety, and availability of vaping experiences ... this is unpersuasive at best.Incidently it's worth noting that despite the allegations, no one really knows for sure that there are a bazillion nine-to-fifteen year-olds who are vaping. (There are supposed to be thousands of credible ghost and space alien "sightings" out there, too.) And until the author tells me that he is doing more than simply extrapolating from very questionable original sources, I'm going to conclude that the premise behind his second point holds no factual water. (Note: you may have to view the source of this web page if you don't want to register.)
---
US: CONNECTICUT
Title: Malloy seeks to ban sale of e-cigarettes to minors in Connecticut
http://www.nhregister
.com/general-news/20140312/malloy-seeks-to-ban-sale-of-e-cigarettes-to-minors-in-connecticut (AP)
Gov. Malloy introduces SB 12 which appears to be a simple minor/sales possession ban. Refreshingly, he doesn't say that flavored e-juices are sold with the specific intent of hooking children on nicotine, merely that minors "could be attracted to them." Of course the standard drivel from the FDA is quoted (we don't know anything about vaping, and the potential risk that they could lead teens to try tobacco cigarettes). Local oncologist parrots the standard "we don't know whether they're safe" line, without saying anything at all about potential cessation/THR benefits.
This is an AP story, so it contains no gratuitous junk, and is being syndicated in many other places. It may be that this bill will be a viable alternative to HB 5286 (see below) which I believe also contains a minor sales ban. A briefer, home-grown but still junk-free report in the Hartford Courant is here: http://articles.courant
.com/2014-03-12/health/hc-malloy-e-cigarette-ban-0413-20140312_1_electronic-cigarettes-e-cigarettes-minors
[ CT's HB 5286 - burdensome labelling requirements whose purposes is to "destroy the e-cig industry" (Bill Godshall) is "just sitting in cmte" according to Greg Conely:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...contents-nicotine-yield-hearing-feb-28-a.html ]
---
US: NEW JERSEY
Title: Christie's NJ e-cigarette tax is hot topic at first budget hearing
(NJ US local paper amalgam site) http://www.nj
.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/03/christies_nj_e-cigarette_tax_is_hot_topic_at_first_budget_hearing.html#incart_river
Brief report on CASAA members' testimony in front of the House (Assembly) budget cmte - apparently the Chair is a vaper. The reporter who wrote the story felt obligated to balance the testimony with junk from a CDC press release (you know: nothing is known about vaping, and we have no idea whether it will lead to more tobacco smoking and not less). When the ALA and other ANTZ org.'s rep.s have their chance to testify, we'll see whether the story is "balanced" with quotes from Dr. Siegel or C.V. Phillips, etc. This is exactly the kind of biased coverage that we've come to expect from the Star-Ledger.
[ NJ's house bill A1080 was originally proposed as a ban on tobacco smoking in parks and beaches, but was immediately ammended to include vaping as soon as it got on to the house floor. See: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...ng-all-public-parks-beaches.html#post12349761 ]
Title: Every breath you take is important to Pulmonologist Dr. Selwyn Levine of Englewood
(NJ US local paper amalgam site) http://www.northjersey
.com/news/249679301_Dr__Selwyn_Levine_of_Englewood_on_e-cigarettes__why_he_s_never_smoked__and_what_you_can_do_to_keep_your_lungs_healthy_take_is_important_to_N_J__pulmonologist.html?c=y&page=1#sthash.JJIIR0If.dpuf
Another physician who recommends vaping, at least as a last resort:
"Dr. Selwyn Levine, a pulmonologist at Holy Name Pulmonary Associates in Englewood and North Bergen, has been in medicine since 1987 [...] Your thoughts on e-cigarettes? It's good business. Obviously, it has been effective in having people stop smoking conventional cigarettes. But the long-term safety of e-cigarettes is a big unknown. Will they introduce their own set of toxins into the lung? In those patients who have failed behavioral counseling, failed nicotine gum or patches, failed some of the medications that we use like Chantix, and who continue to smoke, I have recommended e-cigarettes." No junk, other than what you see in the quote (which really is all there is in the story about vaping). And no, the Dr. is not directly quoted, instead the reporter is paraphrasing - or so it appears.
---
US: ILLINOIS
Title: Outdoor areas approved for McQ's Bar and Grill in Bolingbrook
(Chicago local paper) http://articles.chicagotribune
.com/2014-03-12/news/ct-village-board-meeting-bolingbrook-tl-0320-20140312_1_mcq-documents-bar-and-grill
Very short report says: "The [Bolingbrook Village Board of (?) Supervisors] board Tuesday also voted to classify electronic cigarettes in the same way as tobacco products, subjecting the e-cigarettes to the licensing, sales and other municipal code regulations that tobacco products face." Does that mean indoor vaping is banned, and outdoor vaping can only be done w/i 25 feet of a doorway? Report doesn't say, and there appears to be no village web site.
[ IL currently considering two bills that require vaping supplies (but not non-cigarette tobacco) to be behind the counter, see: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...counter-exempts-tobacco-specialty-stores.html and one bill that would require special packaging: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...-e-cig-products-sold-il-protect-children.html Also worth watching: SB2659, which would ban smoking in cars containing a minor - however the definition doesn't currently include vaping (and is still in the Public Health Cmte, with a status of "postponed." See: Illinois General Assembly - Bill Status for SB2659 And HB 689, which would mandate special packaging in order to protect children (which only has one sponsor at the moment: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...-e-cig-products-sold-il-protect-children.html ]
---
US: MINNESOTA
Title: MN senate committee approves e-cigarette ordinance [sic]
(Duluth MN US NBC affiliate) http://www.northlandsnewscenter
.com/news/local/MN-senate-committee-approves-e-cigarette-ordinance--249958341.html
Report seems to be focused mostly on the testimony of the City Council Pres., so it's a little difficult to discover much about the bill approved by the committee (neither the bill # nor the committee name are mentioned). By process of elimination, this appears to be SF 2027, which does have - as the story mentions - a minor sales and possession ban. However the article omits to point out that it also would define vaping as smoking for purposes of MN's clean air act, thus banning vaping in a number of indoor and outdoor locations. The bill which would raise taxes on e-liquid is in the house, not the sen. See: CASAA: Call to Action! Minnesota E-Cigarette Usage Ban
Title: Waseca council looks to regulate the sale of e-cigarettes
(Waseca Co. MN US local paper) http://www.southernminn
.com/waseca_county_news/news/article_73ecc7f7-263d-548e-88d7-a0dc4acece88.html
Waseca MN city council meets Tuesday March 20th to discuss an ord. that would define vaping as smoking in any location in which smoking was otherwise prohibited by the MN clean indoor air act. Either Matt Black, president of Minnesota Vapors Advocacy, spent too much time with the reporter (bad idea: the media will always quote what you least wish them to), or wasn't as prepared as perhaps he might've been, because there is little in the piece for a nonvaper to take away as a reason for opposing the ord. Meanwhile, the reporter seems to have gone to the ALA's web site (no rep. is quoted) to pull out the standard paragaph indicating that there is "no evidence" that vaping is safe for the vaper or the bystander, and besides that the vapor "contains" heavy metal and carcinogens. (Similar language appears in the proposed ord., but nothing in the story indicates that the vaper rep. addressed this, although he is quoted in responding to the minor gateway argument.) Local vapers are urged to contact their city council members, and/or attend the Tues. 3/20 meeting.
---
US: WISCONSIN
Title: Electronic cigarettes bill clears hurdle
(AP) http://fox11online
.com/2014/03/13/electronic-cigarettes-bill-clears-hurdle/
WI's SB 440, which would exempt vaping from WI's indoor clean air act, has cleared the Sen. Judiciary cmte, 3-2. However this junk-free report notes that there are few days left in this session.
[ WI has two bills that would explicitly exempt from the state Indoor Clean Air Act, which CASAA strongly supports: CASAA: Call to Action! UPDATED: SUPPORT Wisconsin SB 440 and AB 762 EXEMPTING E-cigarettes from public use bans! Also see report by Kirstin: http://wivapers.blogspot.com/2014/03/my-two-days-in-wisconsins-capitol.html and: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...6240-wisconsin-updates-wisconsin-updates.html ]
Title: Cities, schools ponder rules for ‘e-cigarettes’
(Beloit WI US local paper) http://www.beloitdailynews
.com/news/cities-schools-ponder-rules-for-e-cigarettes/article_6fe54a4e-a9f6-11e3-85d1-0019bb2963f4.html
Apparently this reporter was assigned to write a story on the CASAA-supported WI legislation from a local (Beloit) perspective. These bills which are currently being heard in the WI legislature would be among the first bills of their kind in the nation to explicitly exempt vaping from indoor clean air acts. Apparently the Beloit city council has no plans to ban indoor/outdoor vaping under its own ord.s, because it hasn't yet received any complaints. Beloit vapers take note about the activities of this local gov't supported charity: "Youth2Youth of Rock County’s Debbie Fisher said one of the many dangers of e-cigarettes is that people may use them more as they can smoke them indoors and they don’t immediately burn out like one cigarette. 'There’s nothing to slow you down,' she said. [...]'It’s new and enticing. The ads are everywhere,' she said. Fisher said E-cigarettes sold in flavors such as 'cherry crush' or 'gummy bear' can be even more alluring to kids. She said Youth2Youth of Rock County will be busy educating the public about the risks of smoking e-cigarettes and the vapors that come out of them. [Para breaks omitted]". Local "health educator" says that vaping "cannot be used as a safe substitute" for tobacco smoking. Other junk in article: CDC minor gateway stuff, but not the more recent meme arising from Dutra & Glantz's JAMA article.
Title: Debate over e-cigarettes heating up in Wisconsin
(Milwaukee WI US local paper radio station) http://www.620wtmj
.com/news/local/E-Cig-Debate-249781111.html
If this reporter was assigned to write this piece appropos of the bills in the WI legislature, I can find no mention of them. Brief interviews with vape shop owner and bar owner, both of whom say some fairly reasonable things. And of course we have a local otolayngologiest at the local Med school who says: "'We do know there are side stream chemicals. We know there are potential carcinogens in the aerosols, we assume they are going to be safer than a regular cigarette but nobody knows the answer to that.' Dr. Campbell would like to see more studies done before he makes a final decision on how e-cigs should be regulated. 'Part of the problem with this whole effort to make electronic cigarettes able to be used in public is that we just don't know enough about them.'[para breaks omitted.]" This is a fairly mild piece of junk as the standards for junk go. (I wasn't aware that side stream emissions were an issue.) Conclusion of the article cites the CDC minor junk statistic.
Title: Smoking e-cigs in public places burns bystanders
(U WI Eau Claire US student paper) http://www.spectatornews
.com/opinion/2014/03/12/smoking-e-cigs-in-public-places-burns-bystanders/
ANTZ-in-training student editorial writer makes the usual tired arguments - if it's called a "cigarette" and it produces something that "looks like smoke" then we should be extremely suspicious of it, because BT burned us before, and they're really behind this. She also buys the minor gateway argument and appears to cite (indirectly) the Dutra & Glantz study. Curiously, she mentions two instances in which someone vaped very close to her, but says nothing about her physical senssations. Perhaps that's because there were none.
Title: Residence Hall Association Council surveys on-campus residents on e-cigarette use in dorms
(U WI La Crosse US student paper) http://www.theracquet
.net/news/residence-hall-association-council-surveys-on-campus-residents-on-e-cigarette-use-in-dorms-1.3150391#.UyIIds5obfg
Junk-free report indicates that the Residence Hall Assn has been surveying residents concerning their views about whether vaping s/b allowed in the dorms. Apparently most students don't even know what it is (that's funny - I thought they all used "vape pens" and "e-hookahs" and were just dying to get their hands on a tobacco cigarette ... but maybe that's only true of ten-year-olds). One has to wonder why the urgency exists here, given the low level of familiarity that the dorm residents seem to have about vaping. A close reading of this story makes Your Correspondent wonder whether there was a non-problem in search of a solution here, based on what appears to be an effort to sell an inevitable new policy which would ban vaping within 25 feet of residence halls as a request be students. This paragraph is particularly interesting: "Michele Juza, the Wentz Hall representative for the Specific Issues committee, experienced mixed results when talking with residents. 'I went around and knocked door-to-door in Wentz Hall and asked residents what they thought about allowing e-cigs to be smoked in residence halls. Most people had never really thought about the issue,' she explained. 'The majority of residents were opposed to smoking in the dorms; however, the issue is so new that many of the people I talked to had yet to form an opinion.'[Para break omitted, boldface added.]"
This seems oddly reminiscent of a student vote at the U. Del which was reported in this space just four days ago. Students were given the choice of voting for a smoke-free campus (in which vaping was defined as smoking) versus no regulations at all. It's pretty easy to get folks to agree that they don't like cigarette smoke (and then include vaping because "a cigarette is a cigarette"). No junk in this piece, surprisingly.
---
US: IOWA
Title: Iowa panel supports e-cigarette ban for minors
(AP) http://www.kwwl
.com/story/24959159/iowa-panel-supports-e-cigarette-ban-for-minors
Brief junk-free story notes that IA's simple minor sales/possession ban, IA HF 2109 (formerly HSB 566) is now ready for the sen. floor. ANTZ opposed it in the house unsuccessfully because it didn't go far enough. If this one passes, IA may join a number of other states which are probably safe until the 2015 legislative session (at least from the legislature). No junk, this is an AP story.
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US: ARKANSAS
Title: E-cigarette ban on agenda for Thursday night's Harrison City Council meeting
(Harrison AR US local paper) http://harrisondaily.com/n2harrison/e-cigarette-ban-on-agenda-for-thursday-night-s-harrison/article_12caebde-a4ba-11e3-a78f-001a4bcf887a
.html
Possible City Council Meeting: Thursday 3/20 (see below for more info.)
Once again, your tax dollars are at work - this time in Arkansas, as the gov't-funded North Arkansas Partnership for Health Education's Tobacco Education Coordinator's draft ordinance will be considered. The proposal would ban vaping wherever smoking is banned under AR's clean indoor air act. "The draft states that e-cigarettes contain nicotine, haven’t been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for smoking cessation and are currently unregulated.It also says that the use of e-cigarettes in places where smoking is prohibited could send a message to youth and other adults that 'these potentially harmful products are in fact safe' and could lead to smoking of actual cigarettes.
Turns out this story was dated March 5th (last Thurs), and I got to it via a brief Sprintfield MO network affiliate's piece. As it happens the city council did meet last Thurs, but discussed the proposal only briefly (it wasn't a "first reading") and will meet again on Thurs 20th to discuss this ord. Area vapers are urged to contact the city for more info, or the Harrison Daily Times. Also see this brief report: http://harrisondaily.com/news/e-cigs-heading-for-committees/article_13423ab6-a895-11e3-96d8-001a4bcf887a
.html
[ HB 360 Expands the indoor clean air act to include vaping. Also requires a 20-ft perimeter for most public places. Still in cmte: http://www.legis.state.ak.us/PDF/28/Bills/HB0360A.PDF ]
---
US: COLORADO
Title: Committee votes to ban new nicotine products for minors
(Denver CO US NBC affiliate) http://www.9news
.com/story/news/local/2014/03/11/nicotine-e-cigarettes-tobacco/6307227/
CO's SB 14-018, which has already passed the sen., is still in the House Health Care and Human Services Cmte, but there is some question among "opponents" about whether it's necessary, according to the piece. No junk in the story except the usual recitation of the new Tobacco Control meme by the state public health Chief Med. Officer - namely, kids who try vaping end up as "heavy [tobacco] smokers." Report says that bill requires "two more readings" before it could become law, even after it passes through the cmte. There seems to be some confusion about what exactly the bill does, or why it's nec'y here at ECF, as well: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...cluding-empty-e-cigs-without-seeing-id-2.html
---
US: ARIZONA
Title: UA tobacco ban smokes out healthier substitutes
(U AZ US student paper) http://www.wildcat
.arizona.edu/article/2014/03/ua-tobacco-ban-smokes-out-healthier-substitutes
Student editorial writer suggests that the new campus-wide "smoke free" policy goes too far, particularly when it comes to including vaping. No junk, although the writer might've benefitted from doing a tad more research. Fortunately, or unfortunately, she includes tobacco smoking as well - in a plea for designated outdoor smoking areas. As with all such appeals, this one may be answered by the usual statistics regarding tobacco smoking, without any consideration for the differences between the effects on users and bystanders of smoke and vapor. While the policy is still under review, we all know what the university administration is likely to decide.
---
US: WASHINGTON (STATE)
Title: Smokers’ new e-cigarette option may get snuffed
(Seattle Times & Walla Walla WA US local papers) http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2023105919_westneat12xml
.html http://union-bulletin
.com/news/2014/mar/12/smokers-new-e-cigarette-option-may-get-snuffed/
Junk-free pro-vaping article makes the point that several other pieces have lately - including one in NPR and one in Jonathan Turley's blog - namely, that the rush to tax vaping, especially WA's, is all about tax revenues and not one whit about public health or child eduction, etc.
Title: Council cuts through haze by extinguishing e-cigarette ban
(Yakima WA US local paper) http://www.yakimaherald
.com/news/livenews/2005715-14/council-cuts-through-haze-by-extinguishing-e-cigarette-ban
As readers of this space know, Yakima WA became only the second polity on planet earth to explicitly refuse to ban vaping where tobacco smoking has been prohibited. (And by just one vote out of 7.) Editorial is not pro-vaping by any stretch of the imagination, and says nothing about harm reduction or cessation. The writers limit themselves to one simple point: just because vaping "looks like smoking" doesn't mean that it poses the same risk to bystanders as smoking tobacco cigarettes, or even anything close to that. "The City Council cited lack of proof of harm to others as it correctly voted against grouping e-cigarettes with the smoke-emitting kind and requiring users to stay at least 25 feet from wherever smoking is banned, including parks and buildings that are open to the public." Hmm. Looks as if the ANTZ had just asked for an indoor ban, then they might've gotten further?
[ Washington's HB 2795 has been incorporated into the budget, will impose a 95% tax. See: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...-cigs-95-referred-senate-ways-means-cmte.html and
CASAA: Call to Action! Washington Bill to Impose Excessive 95% Tax on E-Cigarettes text of 2795:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2013-14/Pdf/Bills/House Bills/2795.pdf ]
---
US: CALIFORNIA
Title: E-cigarettes: How should they be regulated? Local experts say 'vaping' not as harmless as it may seem
(Eureka CA US local paper) http://www.times-standard
.com/localnews/ci_25334356/e-cigarettes-how-should-they-be-regulated-local?source=rss
Although we find out that AP "contributed to this report" at the end, none of the careful objectivity in this almost-ANTZ-written piece can be used to besmirch the excellent reputation that the Associated Press has in your correspondant's eyes. Local "experts" are the professional ANTZ, who are as usual refusing to acknowledge that PVs are anything more than some kind of plot by BT to increase the number of tobacco cigarette smokers. Are they more "dangerous" than tobacco cigarettes? You be the judge, based on the only info. we have: "'There's just as much, if not more, harsh metal particulate matter in e-cigarettes than commercial ones,' Moerner said. 'The Centers for Disease Control did a national survey of youths from 2011 to 2012 that showed the number of middle and high school students who used e-cigarettes doubled in that time,' Moerner said. [Para breaks omitted.]" Whoops. Looks like they could be more dangerous.
[ CA is under threat from a wide variety of legislation, such as an internet sales ban: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...-shipment-e-cigarettes-anyone-california.html ]
***
COLLECTION 1 - IA STORIES (NO AP CLONES)
(Quad Cites IA US local paper) http://qctimes.com/news/state-and-regional/iowa/iowa-panel-supports-e-cigarette-ban-for-minors/article_b438d0f1-4baf-598c-94d7-ec3807130d7a
.html
(Waterloo IA US NBC affiliate) http://www.kwwl
.com/story/24959975/2014/03/12/senate-committee-approves-e-cigarette-restriction-bill
***
COLLECTION 2: FDA TOO SLOW ON E-CIG. REGULATIONS / REGULATIONS OVERDUE (BLOOMBERG NEWS SERVICE)
First published by Bloomberg News Service, this piece started in CT and is now migrating from the NE. At least two titles have been used so far, and more will likely come.
Look for the first line: "Could someone please send the Food and Drug Administration a copy of the latest study on teenagers and e-cigarettes? The agency obviously needs a push to come out with its overdue regulations." (Refers to the Dutra & Glantz study released last week which claims that e-cigarettes are a gateway for minors to tobacco smoking.)
Previously I've classified this as a general offshoot of the fallout over the combination of the five "meme building events" (see above), but as more knockoffs of this end up around the nation, it needs to be recognized as a separate strain. The general idea should be obvious from what I quoted above: namely, e-cigarettes are creating a new generation of tobacco cigarette smokers, starting with children - therefore the FDA must act to ban flavors, restrict advertising, and emulate the EU's Tobacco Products Directive in other respects.
Title: Editorial: Planned regulations on e-cigarettes are overdue
(Macomb Co. MI US local amalgam web site - listed under "letters") http://www.macombdaily
.com/opinion/20140312/planned-regulations-on-e-cigarettes-are-overdue
***
COLLECTION 3: TOBACCO CONTROL INDUSTRY MINOR GATEWAY MEME - EVENTS TIMELINE
In the future, I intend to keep incrementally augmenting this section to keep track of the gradual growth of the "meme," as a service to those readers who haven't been monitoring the day-by-day progress, as well as a way to evaluate the effectiveness that this meme is having, when it comes to determining how the world views the purpose and effect of vaping.
Meme: E-cigarettes are being deliberately and deceptively marketed to teenagers by the tobacco industry. Once these minors use an e-cigarette, they are seven times more likely to become regular cigarette smokers. Since e-cigarette use is exploding among minors, this will lead to an explosion in the number of tobacco cigarette smokers.
Event 1 - Feb 26: introduction of the Protecting Children From Electronic Cigarette Advertising Act of 2014 (PCECAA) by a group of national US legislators - among them (most prominently) Sens. Boxer (CA), Schumer (NY), and Blumenthal (CT).
Result: Nationwide coverage premised on the idea that e-cigarettes are marketed to children because they are flavored and/or because of the imagery used to market them (depending on the source, this imagery is either celebrity endorsements, sexually titillating advertising, or cartoon characters).
Event 2 - Mar 4: Vape pens article in NYT introduces idea that kids are being lured by PVs which are not called "e-cigarettes" but which are marketed as "vape pens" and/or "e-hookahs" with attractive flavors in order to confuse teenagers.
Result: This piece also created a slew of outraged coverage across the US and overseas about the manner in which the "e-cigarette industry is targeting children."
Title: E-Cigarettes, by Other Names, Lure Young and Worry Experts
http://www.nytimes
.com/2014/03/05/business/e-cigarettes-under-aliases-elude-the-authorities.html
Event 3 - Mar 6: Dutra & Glantz paper published in JAMA Pediatrics which falsely claims (in some places) that the use of e-cigarettes is a causal factor in tobacco smoking, AKA a gateway effect: minors who use e-cigarettes are "seven times more likely" to become regular tobacco smokers.
http://archpedi.jamanetwork
.com/article.aspx?articleid=1840772 Criticized here for confusing causation with correlation: http://tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com/2014/03/conclusion-of-new-glantz-study-on.html [Also criticized by a number of Tobacco Control Organizations, such as the ACS:
Stanton Glantz is such a liar that even the ACS balks: his latest ecig gateway “study” | Anti-THR Lies and related topics
Result: This lead to hundreds of media stories around the world in which e-cigarettes were "linked" with increasing tobacco smoking among young people (despite the fact that these rates have dropped dramatically during the 2011-12 period in question). Paper:
Event 4 - Mar 9: NY Sen. Schumer issues a press release, in which he expresses outrage that e-cigarettes are being marketed to children, who are "seven times more likely" to become tobacco smokers - citing the Mar. 6th JAMA paper.
Result: This press release generated scores of articles around the world:
Title: Schumer Looks To Snuff Out E-Cigarette Marketing To Kids
(NYC CBS affiliate) http://newyork.cbslocal
.com/2014/03/09/schumer-looks-to-snuff-out-e-cigarette-marketing-to-kids/
Event 5 - Mar 10: CT Sen. Blumenthal and Rep. DeLauro hold a news conf. and issue a press release in which they re-iterate the points made in Schumer's earlier press release, and emphasize the issues cited in the March 4th NYT article concerning "vape pens" and "e-hookahs."
Title: Blumenthal, DeLauro: E-hookahs attractive, dangerous, and marketed to children
(Republished from NH Register, New Haven CT local paper) http://www.middletownpress
.com/general-news/20140310/blumenthal-delauro-e-hookahs-attractive-dangerous-and-marketed-to-children
Result: Once again, this received wide and admiring coverage around the US, and in some cases overseas.
Event 6 - Mar 11: IA Sen Harkin and several other sponsoring Sen.s of the PCECAA mail letter to White House, calling for the FDA to release regulations the that FDA originally proposed last fall (but which were rejected by the Office of Management and Budget as too burdensome).
http://www.nationaljournal
.com/library/123450
Result: As of this writing, there are no press reports about this letter - but no news conf. has been called, nor (?) has a press release been issued. Stay tuned for this to generate another hundred stories or so when it does.
***
Google Tips
to see whether there are bad things happening where you live, try this Google search (example for Rhode Island) -
rhode site:casaa.org
(Replace rhode with a single word that describes your city, county, or state. For ex., if you live in Eau Claire, WI - you might use "Claire" to see if something is being proposed at the city level. Don't forget the : (colon), and be sure that there's nothing before or after the colon (not even spaces or tabs.)
You can also try replacing site:casaa.org with e-cigarette to find out what the media is reporting in your area. This is usually most helpful if you use the search tools to search by date. (CASAA doesn't generally issue calls or alerts until a bill is out of a state legislative committee, or is scheduled for a local city or county hearing.)
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