PA House Health Cmte approves bill (HB 682) to ban vaping and smoking in all workplaces

[Bill Godshall]

Following up on my post at
Godshall and Conley refute ACS/AHA/ALA's false claims about vaping at PA House Health Cmte hearing

Today, the PA House Health Cmte approved HB 682
Regular Session 2015-2016 House Bill 0682 P.N. 2541

I sent all committee members the following letter (personalized), then heard that a deal had been
cut to let the Cmte pass the bill today. But the bill has very little or no chance of passage by the full PA House this session. Thanks to all the vapers who contacted Cmte members urging opposition to the bill.


The Honorable Matthew Baker
Pennsylvania House Health Committee Chair
Harrisburg, PA 17120

RE: Please reject HB 682 unless workplace vaping ban is removed from bill

Dear Representative Baker:

Although Smokefree Pennsylvania has advocated smokefree workplace policies since 1990, we urge you to oppose HB 682 unless and until the misguided vaping ban is deleted from the bill.

HB 682’s counterproductive vaping ban in 100% of workplaces (which is deceitfully achieved by falsely redefining “smoking” as including the use of smokefree vapor products) more than offsets the bill’s public health benefits of banning smoking in the remaining 1% of workplaces (that were exempted from the 2008 PA Clean Indoor Air Act).

According to the growing mountain of scientific and empirical evidence, vapor products:
- are 99% (+/-1%) less hazardous than cigarettes, and pose no risks for nonusers,
- are virtually all (i.e. >99%) consumed by smokers and by ex-smokers who switched to vaping,
- have replaced more than 2 Billion packs of cigarettes in the US in the past eight years,
- have helped several million smokers quit smoking, and have helped several million more smokers sharply reduce their cigarette consumption,
- have never been found to create nicotine dependence in any nonsmoker (youth or adult), and
- have further denormalized cigarette smoking (as youth and adult smoking rates and cigarette consumption have declined every year since 2007 when vapor sales began to skyrocket).

Besides, all of the following emit more indoor air pollution than vapor products:
- every exhale by smokers for an hour after smoking a cigarette, and smoker’s clothes and hair,
- household cleaning products, dry cleaned clothes, hair spray, perfume, nail polish and remover,
- plywood, glues, other building materials, paint, carpeting, most furniture, printers, and
- cooking, air fresheners, and even a cup of coffee.

There is no scientific or rational justification to prohibit vaping in workplaces, which imposes unwarranted costs on many employers, encourages vapers to switch back to lethal cigarettes, discourage smokers from switching to vaping, and deceives the public to inaccurately believe vaping is just as harmful as cigarette smoking for users as well as for bystanders.

Sincerely,


Bill Godshall
Executive Director

 

[AndriaD]

That's a great letter, but I wonder how many of them will even bother to read it. They (all politicians) seem to mostly be illiterate ninnies.

Andria

 

[Mossy]

Besides, all of the following emit more indoor air pollution than vapor products:
- every exhale by smokers for an hour after smoking a cigarette, and smoker’s clothes and hair,
- household cleaning products, dry cleaned clothes, hair spray, perfume, nail polish and remover,
- plywood, glues, other building materials, paint, carpeting, most furniture, printers, and
- cooking, air fresheners, and even a cup of coffee.

Thats what I like.........thanks for your efforts Bill

 

[Jugband]

Excellent letter. Those of us in PA are truly grateful for all your hard work and effort. Thank you.

 

[bigdancehawk]

Excellent letter. Those of us in PA are truly grateful for all your hard work and effort. Thank you.

Bill, I have to ask you what are the odds of defeating this kind of garbage when the AHA and the other ostensibly credible 3 letter organizations are behind it? I am very discouraged by what transpired in KC. CASAA didn't notify me until three days before the committee hearing (hardly sufficient time to organize effective opposition!) and the full council voted the very next day following the hearing.

EDIT: To clarify, I'm not blaming CASAA for the late notice. It's commendable that they were able to provide any notice at all. The ordinance in question was first introduced only 7 days before the committee voted to recommended it and only 8 days before enactment. Obviously, there was a great deal of ANTZ activity behind the scenes which made this possible. There was no time to organize effective opposition. That will give you some idea of what we're up against. The only way to mount effective opposition is to lobby and educate the politicians and bureaucrats long before the ANTZ sink their hooks into them. In this regard, the e-cigarette industry has done a very poor job of protecting itself.

 

[Princessdee]

Excellent letter. Those of us in PA are truly grateful for all your hard work and effort. Thank you.

I echo that appreciation. I have a hard time finding words to express how thankful we are for you.

 

[sofarsogood]

I've written this in other posts but, a year ago there were 15 smokers where I work. Today there are 10 smokers and 5 vapers. The boss lets us vape on the shop floor, a huge incentive to switch. It benefits the company because we live better on the money we're paid because vaping is less expensive. We aren't stepping out for a smoke between breaks. We are definitely in better spirits. Work is an excellent place to switch to vaping if there is a little incentive. Everybody wins. Government interference with this is unnecessary over reach.

Somebody tell these government people, the Tobacco Age is over. They are just rearranging the deck chairs.