Ms. __________,
Again, it was nice speaking to you today. Could you please forward this to the members of the Board of Directors? Also, if other harm reduction advocates wish to contact Trimet, should I direct them to e-mail you? Or is there someone else? I will not release your e-mail address until you reply.
I understand Trimet's concern about security resources being wasted when a e-cigarette user is reported for breaking Trimet's no-smoking policy. However, I ask the Board to reconsider their resolution to ban the e-cigarette on their property.
The following document is a poster created by the Health New Zealand, a research and policy group that studied e-cigarettes. This was presented at the Dublin conference of the Society for Research on Nicotine and
tobacco. The study found that while the toxic emissions score of cigarettes is 100+, e-cigarettes scored a 0. Further, the same organization's health report on the e-cigarette reported that the exhaled mist that an e-cigarette creates is comprised of propylene glycol, with very little or nicotine being emitted, which is regarded as safe for human consumption by the FDA.
As I stated on the phone, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. District recently ruled 3-0 that the FDA did not have the authority to ban the e-cigarette. In doing so, the Court agreed with the District Court that "the FDA had cited no evidence to show that electronic cigarettes harmed anyone." (at 14). The FDA had a vested interest in showing the e-cigarettes to be harmful, and failed to do so.
Additionally, the New Zealand report demonstrated that e-cigarette users have to take five puffs from their
device in order to match the amount of nicotine that is delivered to the system by one puff of a regular cigarette. This means that people who are attempting to quit cigarettes with an e-cigarette are more prone to use their device frequently, lest they feel the desire to smoke a real cigarette. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that e-cigarette users are frequently "puffing" on their product.
I ask the Board to consider the number of complaints that security has received about e-cigarette users, and the relative cost to Trimet that comes with sending a security guard out to check for violating of Trimet's no-smoking regulations. After doing so, please weigh these costs against the harm that the people and taxpayers of Portland will continue to suffer from cigarette addiction. The longer that an e-cigarette user is forced to go without nicotine, the more likely they are to want to satisfy their desire with a real cigarette, thus putting themselves in danger. This product, especially now that it has been approved by the FDA, is the future of smoking cessation, and with more and more news stories covering its proliferation, I posit more people will recognize what an e-cigarette is, thus reducing the number of complaints.
On a final note, I understand that the Board of Directors is likely comprised of individuals who either do not smoke or have quit smoking in the past. The natural response, and one that I've heard from many people when advocating for the use of e-cigarettes, is "Why can't they just quit?" However, the smoking rate in the United States has virtually stagnated at around 20% over the past decade. Traditional methods of smoking cessation have failed to bring this rate down. When used as directed to wean the patient down and off nicotine, FDA-approved nicotine products have a success rate of 7% at six months, 5% at one year, and only 2% by 20 months. (Moore D, et al. Effectiveness and safety of nicotine replacement therapy assisted reduction to stop smoking: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ 338:b1024 2009.)
Thank you for your time. I hope that this letter can have some effect on your upcoming January vote to ban e-cigarettes.
