I sent the following letter to 5 of the 6 members of Philadelphia Council's Health Cmte (with a slightly different version sent to bill cosponsor Bill Greenlee, urging him to withdraw his cosponsorship).
The Honorable Marian Tasco
Philadelphia City Council
Dear Councilwoman Tasco
In our 25th year of reducing smoking and secondhand smoke, Smokefree Pennsylvania implores you to reject Bill 140011 by Councilmen Green & Greenlee to ban the use of smokefree e-cigs where smoking is banned because it would discourage smokers from switching to far less hazardous vaping, encourage vapers to switch back to lethal cigarettes, and make it more difficult to further reduce involuntary exposures to tobacco smoke pollution.
In sharp contrast to fear mongering claims by e-cigarette prohibitionists, the scientific and empirical evidence consistently indicates that e-cigarettes:
- are 99% (+/-1%) less hazardous than cigarettes,
- emit similar trace levels of constituents as FDA approved nicotine inhalers, posing no risks to nonusers,
- have never been found to create nicotine dependence in any nonsmoker (youth or adult),
- have never been found to precede cigarette smoking in any smoker (youth or adult),
- are consumed almost exclusively (i.e. 99%) by smokers and by former smokers who quit by switching to e-cigs,
- have helped several million smokers quit and/or sharply reduce cigarette consumption,
- have replaced (reduced consumption of) more than 1 Billion packs of cigarettes in the US in the past five years, including more than 600 million packs in 2013,
- are at least as effective as FDA approved nicotine gums, lozenges, patches and inhalers for smoking cessation and reducing cigarette consumption, and
- pose fewer risks than FDA approved Verenicline (Champix).
Youth
While CDC’s NYTS survey on teen use of e-cigs (cited by Councilman Green) found that “past 30 day” use had doubled among teens from 2011 to 2012, its most important findings were that teen smokers were at least 20 times more likely than nonsmokers to report “past-30-day” use of an e-cig among both age groups in both years (i.e. Among high school students, 7.6% of smokers vs .36% of nonsmokers in 2011, and 15.7% of smokers vs. .7% of nonsmokers in 2012. Among junior high students, 7% of smokers vs. .3% of nonsmokers in 2011, and 20% of smokers vs. .4% of nonsmokers in 2012.)
CDC’s survey (and all others) also found that the cigarette smoking rate among teens has continued to decline annually (to record lows) as e-cigs use has increased. Thus, CDC’s survey found that e-cigs are gateways away from (not towards) cigarettes among teens (just as has been among adults).
Since CDC’s survey didn’t even inquire about weekly or daily use of e-cigs, no conclusions can be drawn from that survey about weekly or daily use of e-cigs by teens.
But as has occurred among adults, it is very likely that 99% of all teen e-cig consumption is by cigarette smokers, and less than 1% by nonsmokers.
Unfortunately for public health, when lobbying for FDA e-cig regulations, CDC Director Tom Frieden and CDC OSH Director Tim McAfee grossly misrepresented CDC’s survey findings to confuse and scare the public by falsely claiming that e-cigs are addicting youth and are gateways to cigarettes.
CDC Online Newsroom | Press Release | E-cigarette use more than doubles among U.S. middle and high school students from 2011-2012
Another recently published survey of NY and CT high school students similarly found that smokers were 55 times more likely than nonsmokers to report past 30 day e-cig use.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306460313002736
Besides, there is absolutely no justification to deny all adults of their/our civil rights (e.g. using an e-cig in their workplace or public place) just because a tiny percentage of teens engage in that same activity. What’s next, banning adults from drinking coffee, beer, wine and spirits because some youth also drink those products? Banning adults from using I-phones because teen use has increased?
We would, however, strongly urge Philadelphia City Council to join Smokefree Pennsylvania in supporting PA Senator Tim Solobay’s legislation (SB 1055) that would ban the sale of alternative nicotine products (including e-cigs) to any minor.
Bill Information - Senate Bill 1055; Regular Session 2013-2014 - PA General Assembly
Air Quality
In contrast to fear mongering claims by some e-cig prohibitionists that the vapor is hazardous to nonusers, extensive scientific research has consistently confirmed that e-cigarette vapor poses no harm or risks to nonusers.
http://publichealth.drexel.edu/~/media/Files/publichealth/ms08.pdf
In fact, all of the following products and activities emit far greater levels of air pollutants (but are not banned in Philadelphia workplaces or public places) than does an e-cigarette:
every exhale by a smoker for at least an hour after smoking each cigarette, smoker’s clothes and hair, plywood, other building materials, glues, paint, carpeting, furniture, appliances, cooking, printers, photocopiers, computers, cleaning products, dry cleaned clothes, hair sprays, perfumes, nail polish and nail polish remover, air fresheners.
Renormalize/Denormalize Smoking
Some e-cig prohibitionists absurdly claim that allowing e-cig use in workplaces and public places will renormalize smoking (because e-cigs remind prohibitionists of cigarettes). But e-cigs have already denormalized smoking for several million smokers (who switched to vaping) and their families, friends and coworkers, while cigarette consumption continues declining faster as e-cig consumption continues to increase.
E-cigs denormalize smoking just like automobiles denormalized horse and buggies.
Enforcement
Some e-cig prohibitionists falsely claim that e-cigs make it more difficult to enforce existing smoking bans. But that’s simply absurd since everybody can tell the difference between a smokefree e-cig and a burning cigarette.
In fact, e-cig use has made it easier and more economical for many employers and managements to comply with existing smoking bans (as workers don’t waste their employer’s time on outdoor smoke breaks, and bar customers don’t have to wait outside).
Besides, while indoor smoking bans are easy to enforce, indoor e-cig usage bans are IMPOSSIBLE to enforce, as vapers can eliminate all visible e-cig vapor by simply holding their breath for two seconds (after inhaling the vapor) before exhaling. And since virtually nobody (except several e-cig prohibitionists) cares if other people vape in workplaces and public places, nobody complains, and there is no enforcement.
We are not aware of even one citation (and only one warning) being issued for illegally e-cig use in the many different jurisdictions that have banned e-cigs use (e.g. New Jersey since 2010, Seattle-King County and Utah since 2011, Boston and North Dakota since 2012). Far more people are vaping in those jurisdictions now than were doing so when their bans were enacted, demonstrating that e-cig usage bans are unenforceable
Summary
Once again, please reject the proposed e-cig usage ban because it provides no public health benefits, but instead would protect cigarette markets by discouraging smokers from switching to lifesaving e-cigs, encouraging vapers to switch back to lethal cigarettes, and making it more difficult to reduce involuntary exposure to 2nd hand smoke (which is eliminated every time smokers use e-cigs instead of smoking).
About Smokefree Pennsylvania
Smokefree Pennsylvania is a nonprofit organization that since 1990 has been advocating local, state and federal policies to ban smoking in workplaces, reduce tobacco marketing to youth, hold cigarette companies accountable in civil litigation, increase cigarette tax rates, fund tobacco education and smoking cessation services, inform smokers that smokefree tobacco/ nicotine products are far less hazardous alternatives to cigarettes, and ensure that smokefree alternatives remain legal and affordable to smokers. In 2007, I convinced Sen. Mike Enzi to amend the federal Tobacco Control Act to require graphic warnings on cigarette packs. In 2009, we urged FDA to keep electronic cigarettes legal, and in 2010 we filed an amicus brief with the DC Court of Appeals in support of NJOY’s lawsuit against FDA’s unlawful e-cigarette import ban.
For disclosure, neither I nor Smokefree Pennsylvania have ever received funding from any tobacco, drug or e-cigarette company.
Bill Godshall
Founder and Executive Director
Smokefree Pennsylvania
1926 Monongahela Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15218
412-351-5880
BillGodshall@verizon.net
