Interesting correspondence with my state government

[DoctorJ]

I sent the following message on 12/18 (and FINALLY received a response yesterday) to the Virginia Attorney General in response to the link within the following message:

"I've researched the laws in VA concerning the topic of E-cigarettes and have only been able to find a response from your office dated April 27, 2010. When searching this website, I find only this same document. I was inquiring to see if there had been any changes or amendments to this document. http://casaa.org/uploads/Virginia_Ruling_on_E-cigarettes_per_Indoor_Smoking_Ban.pdf "

Their response:

"For future reference please be advised that this office functions as the law firm for the Commonwealth. Our clients are the Virginia state government and the state agencies, boards and commissions. Due to statutory restrictions, conflict of interest rules and other policy considerations, we are unable to render private legal advice, answer legal questions or otherwise assist private citizens in legal matters.

Having said this and after reviewing your letter, we suggest that you contact the Division of Legislative Services for the information you are seeking. Their contact information is www.dls.state.va.us. We hope this information is helpful to you.

Again, thank you for contacting the office of the Attorney General and if we can be of assistance to you in the future, please do not hesitate to call on us."



"Again, thank you for contacting the office of the Attorney General and if we can be of assistance to you in the future, please do not hesitate to call on us."

OOOH-KAY, however, what good would "calling on you" do if, "Due to statutory restrictions, conflict of interest rules and other policy considerations, we are unable to render private legal advice, answer legal questions or otherwise assist private citizens in legal matters." I AM A PRIVATE CITIZEN YOU !!!

OMG, is this how our government really operates???? No wonder our country is such the shape it's in now

I did email the Virginia Division of Legislative Services for the information I am seeking. Let's see how long that takes and what kind of a response I get from them.

To be continued...

 

[kristin]

I can save you some time. There are currently no state laws banning or restricting the sale or use of electronic cigarettes in the State of Virginia. As far as we know, there haven't been any proposed state laws, either. As far as I know, no counties or cities in Virginia have successfully included them in a smoking ban, either. CASAA does not oppose sales restrictions to minors for e-cigarettes containing nicotine.

 

[Vocalek]

And they are correct about the AG not dealing directly with private citizens.

To gain that ruling from Mr. Cuccinelli, we had to go through the legislative branch. A CASAA member who lives in the middle of the state convinced her Delegate to help. He contacted the AG's office and asked for a legal ruling on whether or not e-cigarettes are included in the state's indoor clean air act. You have the link to a copy of the ruling on CASAA's web site. It is also posted on the state's web site. http://www.oag.state.va.us/Opinions and Legal Resources/OPINIONS/2010opns/10-029-Peace.pdf

I had asked my delegate for help, too, but he pulled a "Whitehouse.gov" and forwarded my request for assistance to the agency that was causing the problem in the first place: the state health department. You can imagine the response they sent him.

 

[datacreek]

OMG, is this how our government really operates???? No wonder our country is such the shape it's in now

And the monster is growing

 

[Petrodus]

If I could go back in time ...

1. I would never have started smoking
2. I would not have gone on the quest to research to find the truth about our government.

 

[penguinkamikaze]

That message was just a pretentious way of saying they have no stinkin clue, and make it sound like you're a jerk for even asking. You're also more of a jerk if you dare to question their "humanitarian" ways.

 

[DoctorJ]

I posted this just to show the response I received, not for comments from CASAA to say something to the effect of, "Oh, we already knew this. You didn't? You should've asked us first because we know everything about the subject." And the CASAA members that did reply didn't even say anything positive about the efforts of my inquiry like, "Hey Doc, nice to see someone looking into this but here's what we know...".

I can save you some time. There are currently no state laws banning or restricting the sale or use of electronic cigarettes in the State of Virginia. As far as we know, there haven't been any proposed state laws, either. As far as I know, no counties or cities in Virginia have successfully included them in a smoking ban, either. CASAA does not oppose sales restrictions to minors for e-cigarettes containing nicotine.

"As far as I/we know" As far as you know, there may have been a change in the AG's stance that you weren't aware of and I may have found out with my inquiry. Note that the letter from the AG was dated 4/27/10. Something may have changed during the 32 months since the AG released this statement. Wouldn't it have been cool had they responded that there was a change you didn't know about and I just happened to bring it to your attention? And what does, "CASAA does not oppose sales restrictions to minors for e-cigarettes containing nicotine" have to do with my post? I've read the CASAA webpage and am fully aware of their "agenda" and what they stand for. I WAS a member until I read a certain CASAA board member's blog and responded to it and got a scathing response (PM me for link) and some other CASAA "materials" and found that some board members were just a bit too "in your face" with regards to their own stance on the subject of e-cigs and educating those who are not familiar with e-cigs. There is a big difference in having passion for a cause and being a fanatic. I appreciate that the CASAA stands up for the rights of e-cig users; I don't appreciate the fact that my post is replied to with a condescending tone that's reeks of a "superiority of knowledge" and insinuation of ignorance on my part. Well, that's why I made my inquiry in the first place in order to educate and update myself on the subject.

Vocalek, "And they are correct about the AG not dealing directly with private citizens." I honestly didn't know this. I've never dealt with or communicated with the AG office before. I'm a simple English Prof and not as involved in politics as you and the CASAA are. I fully admit that I am ignorant about how the office of the AG works. I had no idea the AG would respond as they did and didn't deal directly with the public. Had I known, I would've written to the Division of Legislative Services in the first place. Now I know.

As I said, I simply posted my correspondences to show how I got the "government run around". I started the inquiry with the intentions of providing my employer with current information on the "no smoking laws" of VA. Our office supervisor has allowed vaping in our offices when I presented him with the original AG response to e-cigs. He then asked if I would follow-up by inquiring to the "powers that be" in our legislature if there was any current amendments, laws or regulations that had been passed since the AG's initial response in April, 2010 so that he could pass this information on and have a "legal stance" allowing us to vape in our offices should this matter be addressed by his supervisors.

 

[kristin]

I'm sorry you read a condescending tone in my post. It was not intended that way. I was just trying to let you (and anyone else reading) know what we know about Virginia's status without you having to run around in circles dealing with more government bureaucracy. I misunderstood your post as wanting to know the status of e-cigarettes in Virginia rather than about dealing with the government runaround. I apologize for misunderstanding and any offense I may have caused.

(We do tend to stay on top of things in Virginia, as CASAA president Elaine Keller (Vocalek) also lives there. So, if we are "not aware" of legislation there it is probably something very new.)

The part about "CASAA does not oppose sales restrictions to minors for e-cigarettes containing nicotine" was meant for any readers who may inquire about proposed bans to minors - just where CASAA stands on it. I tend to answer posts in a way that not only addresses the OP, but also may be helpful or informative to those who read the threads.

I started the inquiry with the intentions of providing my employer with current information on the "no smoking laws" of VA. Our office supervisor has allowed vaping in our offices when I presented him with the original AG response to e-cigs. He then asked if I would follow-up by inquiring to the "powers that be" in our legislature if there was any current amendments, laws or regulations that had been passed since the AG's initial response in April, 2010 so that he could pass this information on and have a "legal stance" allowing us to vape in our offices should this matter be addressed by his supervisors.

This is great and I wish more people would be so proactive with their employers!

If you were offended by a response I gave on my blog, I welcome further discussion on the topic. I get into debates with people all of the time over some things, but I would hate for people to quit CASAA over something like my personal opinion or a disagreement on issues. Especially offense taken from "tone" since tone is very hard to convey in writing and can be easily taken the wrong way.

 

[oldsoldier]

I have received a request to remove this thread as it has become irrelevant over the course of the conversation. But since it does actually bring up a couple "little known facts" I'm going to close it and leave it for reference.

I truly believe that neither Vocalek or Kristin intended to cause offense and I'm sure that DoctorJ was acting with the intent to show just how convoluted dealing with government can be...

Lets call it a miscommunication and also a testament to the greatness of America - Considering how difficult communicating with our Government has become since our founding it truly is amazing that we all don't live in caves or lean-tos and cook over wood fires...