Nearing disaster in New York - please take action NOW to prevent e-cigarette ban.

[foggy1]

Interesting, facts a little off but not bad. Here's the comment I was posting,
...till I saw I needed to sign in to post (I don't need annymore spam)

We who use these e-cigs do Not want children or non-smokers to take them up.
Yes they come in flavors, but adults like flavors too, look at all the flavored alcohol varieties availible. The nicotine level can be controlled by mixing with PG or VG, & flavorings, all FDA approved food additives.
We are no longer exhaling second hand smoke, just non-toxic vapor.
Use of these has helped us cut down or quit our tobbaco habit, which we know is very unhealthy. These work where gums, patches and drugs have failed. We are now still using nicotine, but in a much safer form, free of the tars & additives that cause health problems. My doctor is happy that I've switched, and I feel better without the added poisonous chemicals that cigarette makers put in their products. Taking something off the market that helps so many get off of a known dangerous product (cigs) makes no sense at all. If they are afraid of losing tax revenue, put a tax on the nicotine juice .. but tax caffine too because they are both addictive stimulants.

Mabee parts of this argument can be used to help convince lawmakers of their stupidity

 

[bsoplinger]

Registered using my expect spam and don't care email and left a comment. Thanks for the link Kristen.

 

[CES]

Last March, I sent emails to all of the members of the New York State Assembly... i got this email yesterday (safely after the election):

Thank you very much for writing to let me know of your opposition to Assembly bill A. 9529, which would prohibit the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors and prohibit the sale of electronic cigarettes that are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). I apologize for the delay in my response.

This bill was introduced in response to an FDA report showing that electronic cigarettes contain several cancer-causing ingredients, and are not necessarily a safe smoking-cessation product. The FDA has not approved the use of these devices as smoking-cessation products, and recently warned five manufacturers not to advertise their products as such.

The FDA has announced its intention to begin regulating electronic cigarettes. I believe that it is appropriate for New York State to prohibit the sale of these products until the FDA has determined whether or not they are safe and effective for their intended use.

I appreciate your consideration in writing to me.

Very truly yours,

Richard N. Gottfried
Chair
Assembly Committee on Health

I will respond that the FDA could regulate under the tobacco act if they chose to do so - once i can respond without being snarkey...but is there anyone who lives in his district that can follow up in person too?

 

[madglee]

Obviously I support protesting this, but I'd say that regardless of ban we vape and buy as we please. I don't follow laws that make no sense.

 

[Zeroi]

Guys, How is this working in NY?

New Electronic Cigarette Kiosk Opens at Crossgates Mall in Albany, NY

 

[grandmato5]

Last March, I sent emails to all of the members of the New York State Assembly... i got this email yesterday (safely after the election):



I will respond that the FDA could regulate under the tobacco act if they chose to do so - once i can respond without being snarkey...but is there anyone who lives in his district that can follow up in person too?

Thanks for posting the letter. This pretty much means that the bill will make it out of committee to the Senate floor when the legislature meets again in the new year. Not the news I was hoping for.

 

[ACM]

OK, so what would a NY State ban really mean? Would that be the end of being able to buy juice and accessories and have them shipped to NY addresses? Would anyone attempting to do so essentially be committing a crime, in that they'd be using the mail to transport illegal contraband across state lines? What would vendors do about such a ban? Would they fight it through the court system, and at least try to get some kind of injunction?

This raises many questions, of course, but does anyone have any answers? The letter from Richard Gottfried seems to clearly imply that the decision is already made and that any further question on the possibility of a ban is simply rhetoric.

 

[yvilla]

Thanks for posting the letter. This pretty much means that the bill will make it out of committee to the Senate floor when the legislature meets again in the new year. Not the news I was hoping for.

Not necessarily. We may still have a battle on our hands, but this ban is certainly not a done deal. Gottfried, as I posted above, is in the Assembly, and they already passed their version of the bill.

But, the Senate version of the bill never made it out of the Senate Health Committee last session, so never made it to the Senate floor. Nor does Gottfried have any say in that, nor necessarily any influence on the issue in the Senate. We contacted and lobbied hard on all the Senate Health Committee members last spring. We also had four speakers at the public hearing recently sponsored by the Senate Health Committee in NYC. And we will definitely keep battling this bill when the new session opens next year.

 

[OldDragon]

Maybe the gov in ny should be made aware of all the mistakes the FDA has make in approving drugs, foods, and other things that have been pulled from the market after their approvel. The FDA does not have a very good track record.

 

[jimho]

Not necessarily. We may still have a battle on our hands, but this ban is certainly not a done deal. Gottfried, as I posted above, is in the Assembly, and they already passed their version of the bill.

But, the Senate version of the bill never made it out of the Senate Health Committee last session, so never made it to the Senate floor. Nor does Gottfried have any say in that, nor necessarily any influence on the issue in the Senate. We contacted and lobbied hard on all the Senate Health Committee members last spring. We also had four speakers at the public hearing recently sponsored by the Senate Health Committee in NYC. And we will definitely keep battling this bill when the new session opens next year.

Unfrotunately that public hearing was only attended by one senator- the other 19 members of the health committee seemed to have more important things to do back in September. Many of the NY state senators were reelected as people voted down party lines. Wish I could share your optimism but after writing my senator twice and not recieving any response, I suspect we're looking at an uphill battle at best when it does come up. I think the folks who attended presented a good argument but I believe it fell on deaf ears. At the end of the day I think the whole thing will rest on the outcome of the remaining undecided senatorial elections and weather or not the GOP ends up controling the NYS senate, rather than the quality or validity of our argument.

 

[ACM]

Many of the NY state senators were reelected as people voted down party lines.

Granted, voting should not be based on vaping rights alone, but with NY State being in such poor shape, and with the NY State legislature having failed the people so horribly, it's astonishing to me that anyone in NY would have voted along party lines. In corporate America, poor performers are fired, but in political America, as long as they align themselves with the party of preference among the majority of the population, poor job performance is barely an issue.

I hope that there are senators who will see the lack of logic in banning e-cigs outright. I could live with more regulation and tighter control over how and where there are marketed, until such time as appropriate testing is completed and made publicly available. But to ban them with no scientific evidence as to their harm is like smashing a fly with a sledgehammer.

Write letters often, try to attend hearings, if you can, and keep hounding those in power who control the fate of the e-cig industry. And hope someone will actually listen and understand why we're so adamant about keeping these devices on the market WHILE testing is being conducted. But at the same time, start preparing for The End.

I've said it before on this forum, when it comes to politics, decisions are often made well before the public even knows there was a discussion over them in the first place. Public hearings are little more than sideshows to give the impression that the people have a say in their government. Look at the MTA in New York City. Every time they want to raise fares and cut services on the trains and buses, they hold public hearings. And every time they do, an overwhelming majority of people oppose them. And every time, the hikes and cuts go through EXACTLY as proposed, with no compromises.

I've been flamed a few times for my pessimism, and I'll probably be flamed again, but please don't mistake realism for pessimism. Stock up on supplies and reconnect with those old out-of-state friends you've fallen out of touch with. There's going to come a time when you'll need to get a third party to order and ship your stuff to you.

 

[jimho]

Well, for what it's worth- I think you're right on target!. well said.

Stock up on supplies and reconnect with those old out-of-state friends you've fallen out of touch with. There's going to come a time when you'll need to get a third party to order and ship your stuff to you.

Kind of an interesting thought- looking at the current ruling passed by the NY State Assembly, it's unclear how that will effect the mail order business. It may however effect the use of these devices in public places and you can be sure we won't see smoking everywhere kiosks at the mall, but do you think suppliers will stop shipping components to NY if a ban on the sale of e-cigarettes is passed?

 

[ACM]

It's going to be one of those things that will be really hard to enforce. I remember when NY cracked down on internet cigarette sales because they circumvented sales taxes. The solution was to 1) make an agreement with UPS and FedEx to stop shipping tobacco products, and 2) to help push through legislation that prohibited the USPS from mailing tobacco products. But if vendors ship their products in unmarked, brown paper packages, who would know what was in them?

My mailman will start thinking I have some kind of weird, kinky porn fetish, though, will all of the unlabeled brown paper packages I'll be getting.

 

[jimho]

that's pretty much what I was thinking. It would be almost impossible to enforce.

 

[bsoplinger]

It would be almost impossible to enforce.

As opposed to speeding laws or seat belt laws or existing internet sales laws or …

It'll be used just like those. Enforced when convenient, like when they've already gotten someone for something else and its a freebee tack-on. Or when someone makes themselves a PIA because of public opposition to something else the PTB like.

 

[fugazig]

this is really crazy!

 

[Zeroi]

Crossgates Mall, the premier shopping, dining and entertainment destination in New York’s Capital Region just recently began hosting an all new kiosk exclusively featuring Electronic Cigarettes Inc. products. Various Starter Kits, E Cig Disposables, E Liquids, and Accessories are now all available right at the Crossgate Mall, for your convenience.

Guys, How is this working in NY?

New Electronic Cigarette Kiosk Opens at Crossgates Mall in Albany, NY[/QUOTE]

 

[ACM]

Crossgates Mall, the premier shopping, dining and entertainment destination in New York’s Capital Region just recently began hosting an all new kiosk exclusively featuring Electronic Cigarettes Inc. products. Various Starter Kits, E Cig Disposables, E Liquids, and Accessories are now all available right at the Crossgate Mall, for your convenience.

Guys, How is this working in NY?

New Electronic Cigarette Kiosk Opens at Crossgates Mall in Albany, NY

[/QUOTE]


NY hasn't banned them, yet. The Assembly voted to ban them, but the vote never made it to the Senate before the end of the last session. It's believed that the legislature will take the issue up again in January, and the expectation is high that they will ban the sales of e-cigs in New York State sometime this winter.

That kiosk in Crossgates Mall better do some brisk holiday sales. It's going to be gone by summer, I'll bet.

 

[jimho]

NY hasn't banned them, yet. The Assembly voted to ban them, but the vote never made it to the Senate before the end of the last session. It's believed that the legislature will take the issue up again in January, and the expectation is high that they will ban the sales of e-cigs in New York State sometime this winter.

That kiosk in Crossgates Mall better do some brisk holiday sales. It's going to be gone by summer, I'll bet.[/QUOTE]

I still think that really (unfortunately) depends on the makeup of the senate- there are still those 2 or 3 seats undecided (and will stay undecided for a couple more weeks)- if the seats go Republican they will control the Senate, and the committees and the bill will have a chance of never making it to the floor.

 

[ACM]

I still think that really (unfortunately) depends on the makeup of the senate- there are still those 2 or 3 seats undecided (and will stay undecided for a couple more weeks)- if the seats go Republican they will control the Senate, and the committees and the bill will have a chance of never making it to the floor.

It's a nail-biter, that's for sure. I certainly do hope a shift in power will result in the death of this bill.