"Like the Wild West" 1/19/14 (Statesman Journal, based in OR USA's capital)

[Roger_Lafayette]

www . statesmanjournal . com/article/20140119/NEWS/301190017/E-cigarettes-s-like-Wild-West

Broke link because it's unbalanced (albeit not complete rubbish ... just selectively negative).

Looks like OR may be one of the next states to legislatively declare a 100% equivalence between PVDs and tobacco burning, without so much as either a smidgen of protest nor a scintilla of reflection.

This Gannett paper is based in Salem (OR's capital).

 

[BardicDruid]

Looks like OR may be one of the next states to legislatively declare a 100% equivalence between PVDs and tobacco burning, without so much as either a smidgen of protest nor a scintilla of reflection.

No the bill is to ban sales to minors.

 

[Roger_Lafayette]

No the bill is to ban sales to minors.

Correct, as currently written.

But the sponsor says (p.5):

Rep. Olson said while it’s possible an amendment also restricting the use of e-cigarettes in certain places could come up during the course of his bill’s path, the first priority is to make sure the state bans selling them to minors.

Just about everywhere this has come up, the "politically safe" stance for politicians seems to have been that vaping is smoking, and PVDs are cigarettes ... end of story.

In Oregon's case, the state health org. is also taking that position (also p.5):

The Oregon Health Authority recommends the following regulations: FDA oversight, no sales to kids, no flavors, high enough prices to deter purchasing by kids, no use in smoke-free zones, and advertising restrictions.

And of course you'll see the usual American Lung ...'n stuff in the article, e.g.: “What we know needs to happen is that people need to quit smoking,” Sward said. “We want to help them, and one of the ways to do that is by putting in place policies we know will work.”

Yep. They've been really effective at getting people to quit.

We'll see if anyone in the state legislature will stand up to the usual propaganda. I have my doubts.

 

[rothenbj]

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

 

[AgentAnia]

[cynicism] Yeah, they're getting clever. Introduce a bill banning sales to minors. Nobody objects. People (us) stop paying attention. Sneak in amendments later with all the other prohibitions and hope people still aren't paying attention. [/cynicism]

Let's be sure we keep tracking these bills!