Here is the letter I sent to them:
NY Assembly A9529 - Banning Electronic Cigarettes
I am utterly shocked and appalled that the entire New York State assembly would outright ban all sales of a product based on heresy with no scientific facts behind Linda Rosenthol's (approximately) 10 second-long description of electronic cigarettes.
I believe the chemical she is referring to 'as being used in antifreeze' is Propylene Glycol. This is used in modern antifreeze as a safer alternative to the chemicals that were previously used that were very toxic. PG is also used in many ingested products including baking extracts, candy, asthma inhalers, cough drops, skin care products and many other products many people put inside/on their bodies every day and can hardly be referred to as a "carcinogenic".
Electronic cigarette "
juice" often contains Propylene Glycol and/or Vegetable Glycerin (sometimes used in combination), nicotine and flavorings. This is a very small list compared to
tobacco cigarettes which contain over 4,000 carcinogens. The only carcinogen in this list would be nicotine.
I agree that nicotine products should never be sold to children, but the rest of us should be able to make our own decisions as to what we put in our bodies, especially when they are clearly SAFER than cigarettes. Had she proposed a ban of selling these as "smoking cessation devices" rather than "nicotine delivery systems" it would be an entirely different story.
What would this country come to if all suggested statutes were passed in this manner with vague, inaccurate ten second descriptions, literally no explanation, scientific proof, or at the very LEAST expert consultation? Pretty much all consumer products and even the air itself could be banned. Everybody who voted in favor of this ridiculous bill should be embarrassed and ashamed of themselves, not only for failing to ask for reasonable proof that these products should be banned but also for being UNAMERICAN for removing another portion of our civil liberties.