Indianapolis Area Residents - URGENT

[Vocalek]

UPDATE: The mayor vetoed the smoking ban passed by Indianapolis/Marion County Council and said he wanted exemptions for bars. The new proposal exempts bars from the smoking ban, but still includes e-cigarettes. The bill has been assigned to the Rules and Public Policy Committee for a hearing as early as April 3. It could come up for a final vote in mid-April and would take effect later this spring.

I wrote to the council (see my letter at the bottom) and received this response from Council Member McQuillen. I will be sending him the research he has requested, but we need local supporters to show up for the meeting as he has asked. If you can't go to the meeting, get on the phone and call as many council members as you can. Here is CASAA's Call to Action with all the information you need: Call to Action: Indianapolis-Marion County, IN

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Hi Elaine:
I intend to offer an amendment to exempt e-cigarettes from
the smoking ban language in committee during the Rules and
Public Policy Committee meeting (5:30pm at the City-County
Building in Indianapolis on Tuesday April 3rd.)
It would be most helpful if you would send me any pertinent
facts and figures to help to support this argument.
Also - I do not know how many local supporters of e-cigarettes
that you have here in Central Indiana, but a good showing of
concerned citizens would have the most effectiveness during
the meeting.

Thanks,
Michael J. McQuillen
Indianapolis City-County Council
District #12
POB 50022
Indianapolis, IN 46250-0022

----- Original Message -----
From: Elaine Keller
To: zach.adamson@indy.gov ; jbarth53@hotmail.com ; pahickman@gmail.com ; leroy.robinson@indy.gov ; info@evansforindy.com ; angelamansfield@aol.com ; vaughnforcouncil@gmail.com ; cscales_2000@yahoo.com ; CainforCouncil@aol.com ; jfmchenry@iquest.net ; maggie.lewis@indy.gov ; monroe.gray@indy.gov ; joseph.simpson@indy.gov ; william.oliver@indy.gov ; talleyjs@aol.com ; mike@mikemcquillen.com ; cpfist1061@aol.com ; voposili@gmail.com ; brian@mahern.net ; mmadams@iquest.net ; VABrown2022@yahoo.com ; jeff030167@indy.rr.com ; frank.mascari@indy.gov ; bdhunter@sbcglobal.net ; jasonholliday131@aol.com ; jcardwell@cardwellhomecenter.com ; jack.sandlin@att.net ; aaronfreemanlaw@gmail.com
Sent: Sunday, April 01, 2012 11:38 PM
Subject: Amend PROPOSAL NO. 136, 2012 to delete smoke-free product from definition of smoking


Dear Council Members:

On behalf of the Indianapolis/Marion County members of the Consumer Advocates for Smokefree Alternatives Association (CASAA), we urge you to reconsider your intention to pass regulations that would prohibit the use of smoke-free electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) wherever smoking is currently not allowed. Simply stated, e-cigarettes do not produce any smoke and have never been shown to pose any risk to bystanders.

Even the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, and the American Heart Association recognize this. Earlier this month, those three organizations agreed to exempt smoke-free e-cigarettes from a smoking ban in Springfield, Missouri. Official Statement - 03.16.12 - FINAL PDF.

While CASAA appreciates the Board's desire to protect its citizens, banning the use of smoke-free e-cigarettes in public places is not warranted based upon the information currently available. In fact, CASAA believes that banning the use of smoke-free e-cigarettes in public places may actually work against the Board's stated purpose of promoting the health of its citizens.

The concept of tobacco Harm Reduction (THR)—replacing tobacco cigarette smoking with less hazardous sources of nicotine—is becoming increasingly recognized as a valid strategy in combating the crippling health problems associated with smoking. Smoke-free e-cigarettes are proving to be one of the most promising of the THR products. Both Indiana and Nebraska have passed proclamations embracing the concept of THR, recognizing that current strategies simply are not effective enough.

States such as Virginia that ban smoking but permit use of e-cigarettes indoors have had no problems with enforcement. Cigarette smoke has an unmistakable odor, and smoke lingers in the air. E-cigarette vapor is practically odorless; but, even when detectable, the odor is not unpleasant and smells nothing like smoke. Any visible vapor begins to dissipate almost immediately. Smokers who see an e-cigarette used indoors don’t light up—they ask, “What is that?” and “Where can I get one?”

Sound public health policy surely would encourage smokers to replace or reduce their cigarette consumption—not create obstacles to it. Banning the use of e-cigarettes where smoking is prohibited sends a message to smokers that they may as well continue to smoke, whereas allowing e-cigarette use indoors provides an incentive to switch to a far safer alternative.

CASAA urges you to amend PROPOSAL NO. 136, 2012: Specifically, in Section 616-102. Definitions, item (k) delete the text "the use of an electronic cigarette (also known as an e-cigarette)”.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Elaine Keller, President
The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association


CASAA is a non-profit organization that works to ensure the availability of reduced harm alternatives to smoking and to provide smokers and non-smokers alike with truthful information about such alternatives.

Our mission is to ensure the availability of effective, affordable and reduced harm alternatives to smoking by increasing public awareness and education; to encourage the testing and development of products to achieve acceptable safety standards and reasonable regulation; and to promote the benefits of reduced harm alternatives.


​

 

[Vocalek]

This was his response after I sent him the information he asked for and let him know that we had put out a Call to Action:
----------------------------------------------

Thank you!

The key is getting people there who will either testify
or at least show their solidarity.

The committee is stacked against us - but a good
showing will make it difficult for the anti e-cigarette
members to ignore the wishes of the people.

Thanks,

Michael J. McQuillen
Indianapolis City-County Council
District #12
POB 50022
Indianapolis, IN 46250-0022

 

[Vocalek]

If you live outside the Indianapolis area and send email, please note:

During the Jan. 17th Committee meeting, one of the sponsors of the bill implied that all of the emails they had been receiving were from people who had financial interest in the e-cigarette industry. When writing to the Council members, please emphasize your personal story and that you are a consumer, not an industry representative.

 

[Hoosier]

I hope you don't mind, but I reposted this to the Hoosier Vapers sub forum. Some of us have been trying to follow this subject.

 

[Vocalek]

I hope you don't mind, but I reposted this to the Hoosier Vapers sub forum. Some of us have been trying to follow this subject.

Don't mind at all. Any way you can spread the word is good!

 

[TennDave]

Go CASAA.... Go Hoosier Vapers!!! If you fight this, you'll win this!!!!

 

[Luisa]

It is unusual for an elected official to support us! Hoosier Vapers PLEASE don"t lose this opportunity. Show up in force!!! I have e-mailed,but NOTHING is as effective as local voters showing up and voicing opinions.

 

[TomCatt]

Thanks for the vigilance Elaine!!

 

[TomCatt]

Email sent

 

[Hoosier]

I have failed to get some things moved around so I could make this meeting, but I did run down the meeting location while I was attempting to do so.

Room 260
200 E.Washington St.
Indianapolis, IN 46204

Meeting is at 5:30 pm today 4/3/12. I am unable to get near Indy until nearly 8pm.

 

[mg7454]

If you live outside the Indianapolis area and send email, please note:

During the Jan. 17th Committee meeting, one of the sponsors of the bill implied that all of the emails they had been receiving were from people who had financial interest in the e-cigarette industry. When writing to the Council members, please emphasize your personal story and that you are a consumer, not an industry representative.

Thank you Vocalek!
My e-mail sent to:

zach.adamson@indy.gov ; jbarth53@hotmail.com ; pahickman@gmail.com ; leroy.robinson@indy.gov ; info@evansforindy.com ; angelamansfield@aol.com ; vaughnforcouncil@gmail.com ; cscales_2000@yahoo.com ; CainforCouncil@aol.com ; jfmchenry@iquest.net ; maggie.lewis@indy.gov ; monroe.gray@indy.gov ; joseph.simpson@indy.gov ; william.oliver@indy.gov ; talleyjs@aol.com ; mike@mikemcquillen.com ; cpfist1061@aol.com ; voposili@gmail.com ; brian@mahern.net ; mmadams@iquest.net ; VABrown2022@yahoo.com ; jeff030167@indy.rr.com ; frank.mascari@indy.gov ; bdhunter@sbcglobal.net ; jasonholliday131@aol.com ; jcardwell@cardwellhomecenter.com ; jack.sandlin@att.net ; aaronfreemanlaw@gmail.com

I smoked two packs of cigarettes a day for 40 years!
I coughed constantly, my lungs and ribs ached from coughing so hard!
I could barely breathe!
I still could not stop smoking tobacco cigarettes!
(I managed to stop smoking for 6 months, not even one cigarette;
however, the craving persisted and I started smoking again!)

One day I saw a man "vaping" an electronic cigarette when I was at the auto repair shop.
This was the first time I had ever heard of an e-cig!
I went to the mall and bought an e-cig kit.

I had 3 packs of cigarettes left and over the next 3 days I used my
e-cig and smoked most of the remaining packs of tobacco cigarettes.
Before I finished those 3 packs of cigarettes, I realized how bad they
tasted compared to the tasty e-liquid I was using!
I have never had the slightest compulsion to smoke another tobacco cigarette,
and I know that with my e-cig, I will never smoke tobacco again!
It has now been 9 months for me without a tobacco cigarette or a craving for a cigarette!

I was dying, without alternatives to smoking that worked for me;
until the day I saw that man and his e-cig.
I can breathe again and I am feeling so very much better!
Please do not ban e-cigs! They produce a water vapor, not smoke!
They need to be available to (and seen by) people who are still addicted to tobacco cigarettes.
You can help to save lives, please weigh your decision carefully!

Always remember to count your blessings,
and
Have a Blessed Day!

 

[mg7454]

Michael J. McQuillen
Indianapolis City-County Council
District #12

Replied to my e-mail that he intends to offer an amendment
to exempt e-cigarettes from the smoking ban language in committee during the
Rules and Public Policy Committee meeting
(5:30pm at the City-County
Building in Indianapolis today, Tuesday April 3rd.)​

 

[TomCatt]

Received the same response from Mr McQuillen

And also received the following response from Pam Hickman:
"Thank you for your comments. I am also getting letters for citizens who do not want the vapors blown around in the places the eat, drink and work. It is a very complicated issue.

Pam HIckman"

 

[Vocalek]

Just so you know, I received that response to my email as well, and this is what I sent her at 12:50 AM Monday (she apparently was up late, too.)

Dear Ms. Hickman:

Thank you for a thoughtful response.

Actually, there is a growing body of research on smoke-free electronic cigarettes. Even the FDA’s 2009 study, which is widely quoted as saying that e-cigarettes contain carcinogens and toxins, found these two substances at trace levels in the liquid—in a quantity equal to the nitrosamines in an FDA-approved nicotine patch, gum, or inhaler. The FDA did not find any carcinogens or toxins whatsoever in the vapor.

I’m attaching a comprehensive review by Dr. Michael Siegel of Boston University School of Public Medicine and Zachary Cahn of UC Berkeley of 16 lab studies conducted on smoke-free e-cigarette liquid and vapor. Their article was published in the Journal of Public Health Policy. The authors concluded, “A preponderance of the available evidence shows them to be much safer than tobacco cigarettes and comparable in toxicity to conventional nicotine replacement products.”

You are correct that any kind of smoking, such as smoke from a tobacco, clove, ........., or lettuce cigarette could put bystanders at risk. The harmful substances in smoke are created by burning organic matter. Smoke-free e-cigarettes do not burn anything. Therefore they do not contain the tar and particulates that cause lung disease, the poisonous gasses that impact the cardiovascular system (e.g. Carbon monoxide), nor the thousands of chemicals created by the process of combustion itself, many of which are cancer-causing.

The visible mist from a smoke-free e-cigarette is created by vaporizing the same chemical (Propylene Glycol) that is used in commercial fog machines that you saw used in the half-time show at Super Bowl. These fog machines also are used in dance clubs and in theatrical productions, as well as in training fire-fighters.

The only other ingredients in the liquid are water, flavoring, and (optionally) a small amount of nicotine. If present, nicotine typically makes up less than 2% of the total volume of liquid in a one-milliliter cartridge (about 1/5 of a teaspoon). This is divided among approximately 300 puffs of vapor. A cartridge lasts most users an entire day. Dr. Murray Laugesen tested the amount of nicotine per puff and found that e-cigarette vapor contains only a fraction of the nicotine that is in a puff of smoke (from 1/10 to 1/3). Furthermore 98% of the nicotine is absorbed in the lungs of the user. As a result. exhaled vapor contains such a tiny amount of nicotine that a person would be exposed to a higher quantity by eating a serving of egg plant.

The smokers who have switched to using a smoke-free e-cigarette are enjoying the same kinds of health improvements seen in anyone who has stopped smoking. In my own personal case, my peak-flow meter readings (a measure of lung function) have increased from 300 when I smoked to 450 at my last test. My cholesterol level has dropped from 234 to 177. The wheezing that used to keep me awake at night is gone, as is the productive morning cough. If directly inhaling the vapor from a smoke-free e-cigarette is improving the health of former smokers, can you think of any scientific explanation for how it would be possible that the exhaled vapor, having been filtered through the lungs of the user, could be at all harmful to bystanders?

I smoked for 45 years and found it impossible to quit until I switched to using a smoke-free e-cigarette three years ago. Many people in my position feel that their lives were saved by these products.

I hope you will share this information with those who have expressed their fears to you. You can let them know that their health is in much more danger from being out on the city streets during rush hour or sitting in a restaurant that grills food over an open flame.

Please feel free to call me if you have any further questions. I have many more scientific research articles that I could share with you.

Cordially,


Elaine Keller

So she has no excuse to plead ignorance, if she bothered to read the attachment. (You can read it online here: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/centers-institutes/population-development/files/article.jphp.pdf

If she is still sending out the same response, then it is possible that one of the anti-harm-reduction groups has been indoctrinating her.

I have asked the folks who contacted us to say they were going to the meeting to include in their speech a description of how their health has improved, and to hammer home the idea that if directly inhaling vapor is improving the health of users, it doesn't seem probable that what users exhale could endanger the health of bystanders.

 

[mg7454]

...You da Bomb!
​

 

[kristin]

I think I would reply this to Ms. Hickman:

Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I can understand the concern, however, e-cigarettes have been in use since 2007 in the US without being prohibited for use in public spaces. If the public has been irritated by the current use of e-cigarettes where they eat, drink and work, why has there not been an outpouring of complaints? The fact is, those who have actually been in the presence of an e-cigarette in use have not been bothered by them. The vapor does not linger, there is little to no scent and the vapor is not irritating to the nose and eyes like cigarette smoke. Therefore, those opposing the public use of these devices have obviously never been near one in use and are only assuming that they will be bothered by them. Please consider allowing an e-cigarette user to demonstrate the device for you personally before you make up your mind about them. These devices may save the lives of millions of smokers. It is extremely important that you make this decision based on facts and personal experience and not heresay.

 

[VaporPhreak]

Just sent an email to everyone on mg7574's list (thanks for the list!) I so wish I could attend!!! Here is what was sent...

All,

I was made aware this afternoon that this very evening you are to meet regarding the proposed Smoking Ban and one topic for discussion being the inclusion or exclusion of Electronic Cigarettes (e-cig) also known as Personal Vaporizers (PVs). My intention was to attend this meeting and offer testimony of my story, however due to the timing of the meeting I am unable to leave work to attend. I am sending this email to all of you instead so that my voice can join the masses. As many others have doubtless already done, I wish to share with you my own story on this topic and one of the many pieces of research done on the relative safety and efficiency of these products.

I started smoking consistently at the age of 18. I smoked between 3/4 of a pack and 1.5 packs a day, every day, for 10 years. In that time I tried every possible method I could think of to quit as I knew the inevitable outcome to this addiction would be premature death with much suffering not to mention the damage I would wreak upon those around me in the process. I tried the gums, the patches, hypnotism, cold-turkey, Chantix, and even several herbal supplements said to be effective in subsiding the cravings. Nothing worked. At most I was smoke free for 3 months with the patches, but constantly craved a cigarette. I was angry and bitter the entire time, and eventually went back to smoking.

Nearly 3 years ago in May 2009 I was told about Electronic Cigarettes and how an acquaintance was able to stop smoking after a 40 year, 2 pack a day, habit. I made the decision to buy one from a truck stop I knew to sell them on June 2nd 2009, that night I finished my last pack of cigarettes and began using the e-cig the next morning. I have not had a single tobacco cigarette since that day. In the time since my lung function has increased 200% from the height of my smoking days, my blood pressure is under control for the first time in 10 years, I no longer have a chronic cough or tar laden mucus being expelled from my lungs, and to be frank I feel better than I ever have. I am healthy and happy, and best of all tobacco free!

Please, view the attached document which is a comprehensive review by Dr. Michael Siegel of Boston University School of Public Medicine and Zachary Cahn of UC Berkeley of 16 lab studies conducted on smoke-free e-cigarette liquid and vapor. Their article was published in the Journal of Public Health Policy. You will see that the authors concluded, “A preponderance of the available evidence shows them to be much safer than tobacco cigarettes and comparable in toxicity to conventional nicotine replacement products.” Please keep this information in mind when you meet this evening to decide on a matter which has very far reaching implications for the future of the only viable alternative I have ever found to the slow suicide that is tobacco use. Thank you.

Edit: Voc, I hop you don't mind me grabbing and using that document and a few lines from your reply to Ms. Hickman.

 

[VaporPhreak]

*taps avatar*
Gandalf-Tux says:

YOU SHALL NOT PASS​

...this smoking ban!

 

[mg7454]

Just sent an email to everyone on mg7574's list (thanks for the list!) I so wish I could attend!!! Here is what was sent...

I am so glad you sent the terrific e-mail VaporPhreak!


However, to give credit where it is due,
I gratefully acknowledge that
the list was provided by

Vocalek.
​

 

[Bill Godshall]

I sent the following letter (personalized) to all Indianapolis/Marion County Council members.


Dear Council Member

As one who has campaigned to ban smoking in workplaces and to otherwise reduce cigarette consumption since 1986, I strongly urge you to oppose the proposed smoking ban (Proposal 136) unless and until electronic cigarettes (e- cigarettes) are removed from the proposal because e-cigarettes emit NO smoke and pose no harm to nonusers, and because more than a million smokers have quit smoking and/or significantly reduced cigarette consumption by switching to these far less hazardous smokefree alternatives.

Since the proposed ordinance would ban smoking in just several hundred workplaces (primarily bars) in Marion County (that currently allow smoking), but would ban e-cigarette use in hundreds of thousands of workplaces, the proposed ordinance could actually do more harm than good for public health unless the phrase "the use of an electronic cigarettes (also known as an e-cigarettes)," is removed from the definition of "smoking".

Besides, redefining "smoking" to include the use of smokefree e-cigarettes is as insincere and absurd as redefining "smoking" to include the use of smokeless tobacco, gums or lozenges, drinking coffee or tea, or using a cellphone or a laptop.

In 2006, I coauthored a comprehensive scientific report "Tobacco harm reduction: an alternative cessation strategy for inveterate smokers" at HRJ | Full text | Tobacco harm reduction: an alternative cessation strategy for inveterate smokers and in 2007 the Royal College of Physicians
issued a similar report "Harm reduction in nicotine addiction; Helping people who can't quit" at
http://www.tobaccoprogram.org/pdf/4fc74817-64c5-4105-951e-38239b09c5db.pdf. Scientific research has consistently found that cigarette smoking poses 100 times greater morbidity and mortality risks than use of smokeless tobacco products in the US and Sweden, and the available evidence indicates that all noncombustible tobacco/nicotine products (including e-cigarettes, nicotine gums, lozenges, patches) are also about 99% less hazardous alternatives to cigarettes.

Smokers who switch to smokefree tobacco/nicotine products reduce their health risks nearly as much as smokers who quit all tobacco/nicotine usage. Several million smokers in the US have already switched to smokeless tobacco products, and about one million smokers have quit by switching to e-cigarettes in the past five years.

All of the dozen plus laboratory tests conducted on e-cigarettes found that e-cigarettes emit no hazardous levels of any constitutents, and that the trace levels of nitrosamines in e-cigarettes are nearly identical to those in nicotine gums and patches.
http://www.healthnz.co.nz/RuyanCartridgeReport30-Oct-08.pdf
http://www.starscientific.com/404/stepanov tsna in.pdf
http://www.healthnz.co.nz/DublinEcigBenchtopHandout.pdf
http://www.casaa.org/files/Study_TSNAs_in_NJOY_Vapor.pdf
Lab Reports / E Liquid Facts / Totally Wicked
http://cdn.johnsoncreeksmokejuice.com/downloads/JCE_GCMS_Report.pdf
http://www.libertystix.com/LibertyStixLabAnalysis072309.pdf
http://truthaboutecigs.com/science/8.pdf
http://www.casaa.org/files/Exponent Response-to-the-FDA-Summary.pdf
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/centers-institutes/population-development/files/article.jphp.pdf
Taylor & Francis Online :: ANALYSIS OF ELECTRONIC CIGARETTE CARTRIDGES, REFILL SOLUTIONS, AND SMOKE FOR NICOTINE AND NICOTINE RELATED IMPURITIES - Journal of Liquid Chromatography & Related Technologies - Volume 34, Issue 14

E-cigarettes emit no smoke nor air pollution, but instead emit a tiny amount of nicotine to the user similar to nicotine gums and lozenges.
http://www.healthnz.co.nz/2010 Bullen ECig.pdf
http://www.casaa.org/files/Virgiania Commonwealth University Study.pdf.

A Literature Review for Glycerol and Glycols for Entertainment Services & Technology Association also found no health risks to humans http://tsp.plasa.org/tsp/working_groups/FS/docs/HSE.pdf, while new pharmacology, pharmacokinetic and toxicology studies at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0300483X11002095 found that laboratory animals were not harmed by far greater levels of propylene glycol aerosol than e-cigarettes emit..

Another reason to eliminate e-cigarettes from to proposed smoking ban is that a ban on e-cigarette use is impossible to enforce since the products can be used discreetly without anyone else knowing). By simply waiting three seconds after inhaling and before exhaling, there is no visible or otherwise detectable vapor. Nobody can even tell if a person is using an e-cigarette or simply holding a pen (which look like most e-cigarettes) to their mouth. Enacting an unwarranted and unenforceable e-cigarette usage ban would reduce the public credibility of the Indianapolis/Marian County Council.

Many published surveys have confirmed that e-cigarettes provide many health benefits to smokers by satisfying their cravings and by helping many smokers quit and/or sharply reduce cigarette consumption. Also, there are no known cases of any youth or nonsmoker becoming a daily user of e-cigarettes.
Sign In
http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2458-10-231.pdf
THR2010. (tobaccoharmreduction.org) (see chapter 9)
http://ectoh.org/documents/3B.5 Ett...ation satisfaction and perceived efficacy.pdf
http://www.ajpmonline.org/webfiles/images/journals/AMEPRE/AMEPRE3013.pdf
Electronic cigarettes (e-cigs): views of af... [Int J Clin Pract. 2011] - PubMed - NCBI
Electronic Cigarettes

A recently published e-cigarette study at http://www.casaa.org/news/article.asp?articleID=197&l=a&p= found that 22.5% of participating smokers remained smokefree after 24 weeks and another 32.5% of participants reduced daily cigarette consumption by 50%, including 12.5% who reduced daily cigarette consumption by 80%. A Japanese study similarly found e-cigarettes effective for decreasing cigarette consumption

SEIKATSUEISEI : Vol. 55 (2011) , No. 1 p.59-64, while a recent case study found e-cigarettes effective for smoking cessation among depressed patients http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?paperID=6134&publishStatus=2.

Other public health organizations that have extensively studied e-cigarettes have also endorsed their use by smokers, including The American Association of Public Health Physicians Regulations.gov and the American Council on Science and Health NEJM editorial: e-cigarette users should resume smoking for their own good > Facts & Fears > ACSH. Former FDA Commissioner David Kessler has also acknowledged the benefits of smokeless tobacco, dissolvables and e-cigarettes as less hazardous alternatives for cigarette smokers at http://www.westport-news.com/busine...-Commissioner-talks-about-tobacco-1735433.php by stating "there's no doubt that in terms of risk of death there are some advantages to that substitution."

Former FDA Commissioner David Kessler has also acknowledged the benefits of smokeless tobacco, dissolvables and e-cigarettes as less hazardous alternatives for cigarette smokers at http://www.westport-news.com/busine...-Commissioner-talks-about-tobacco-1735433.php by stating "there's no doubt that in terms of risk of death there are some advantages to that substitution."

Other public health organizations that have extensively studied e-cigarettes have also endorsed their use by smokers, including The American Association of Public Health Physicians Regulations.gov and the American Council on Science and Health NEJM editorial: e-cigarette users should resume smoking for their own good > Facts & Fears > ACSH.

Once again, please remove the use of e-cigarettes from the proposed ordinance's definition of "smoking", and then approve the proposed smokefree ordinance for public places. I'll be pleased to answer any questions you may have about these issues and/or provide additional information.

Sincerely,


William T. Godshall, MPH
Executive Director
Smokefree Pennsylvania
1926 Monongahela Avenue
Pittsburgh PA 15218
412-351-5880
smokefree@compuserve.com