Dear Bill,
Last year, when the Oklahoma House Health Committee considered a bill to tax e-cigarettes, Oklahoma vapers responded strongly and helped defeat that legislation. Now we need your help again.
On Friday, October 25th at 10 AM, the Oklahoma State University's Board of Regents will hold a meeting to discuss and hear testimony on expanding OSU's existing tobacco-free ban to include e-cigarettes. It is our opinion that preventing legal adults from using a harm reduction product -- especially in outdoor environments -- is wrong and should be met with opposition.
The meeting will be held at the Council Room at 412 Student Union in Stillwater, OK at 10 AM on Friday. The meeting should last less than two hours, but public comment will be taken from those in attendance.
If you can't attend , please send an e-mail to the representatives on the Board of Regents at board@okstate.edu. To see a list of the members, click here.
Urge Opposition to the OSU E-Cigarette Usage Ban by E-mailing board@okstate.edu
What to say to the members of the Oklahoma State University Board of Regents:
1. You are an Oklahoma citizen and would like them to vote NO on banning e-cigarette use on all indoor and outdoor areas of the OSU's various campuses
2. Tell your story on how switching to an e-cigarette has changed your life.
3. Explain how smoking bans are enacted to protect the public from the harm of secondhand smoke, but e-cigarettes have not been shown to cause harm to bystanders. In fact, all evidence to date shows that the low health risks associated with e-cigarettes is comparable to other smokeless nicotine products.
The low risks of e-cigarettes is supported by research done by Dr. Siegel of Boston University, Dr. Eissenberg of Virginia Commonwealth, Dr Maciej L Goniewicz of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Dr. Laugesen of Health New Zealand, Dr. Igor Burstyn of Drexel University, and by the fact that the FDA testing, in spite of its press statement, failed to find harmful levels of carcinogens or toxic levels of any chemical in the vapor.
For example, a study by the Roswell Park Center that was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that the levels of chemicals and toxicants in the vapor produced by 12 different e-cigarettes 9-450x less than in cigarette smoke. The authors noted that the trace levels of chemicals present were comparable to what is found in a FDA-approved nicotine inhaler.
Additionally, a comprehensive review by a Drexel University professor based on over 9,000 observations of e-cigarette liquid and vapor found "no apparent concern" for bystanders exposed to e-cigarette vapor, even under "worst case" assumptions about exposure.
4. Point out that banning smoking while allowing e-cigarette use, even if only in designated areas, could lead smokers to improve their health and switch to e-cigarettes. In the alternative, smokers will continue to either ignore OSU's tobacco-free policy or simply leave campus grounds to smoke.
5. Detail how electronic cigarette use is easy to distinguish from actual smoking. Although some e-cigarettes resemble real cigarettes, many do not. It is easy to tell when someone lights a cigarette, from the smell of smoke. E-cigarette vapor is practically odorless, and generally any detectable odor is not unpleasant and smells nothing like smoke. Additionally, e-cigarette users can decide whether to release any vapor ("discrete vaping"). With so little evidence of use, enforcing indoor use bans on electronic cigarettes would be nearly impossible.
6. Tell them that by switching to a smokeless product, you have greatly reduced your health risks.
7. Direct them to the CASAA.org website, as well as the CASAA Research Library, for more information.
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