Marianne,
Please forward this to the Board of Health Members. Also, please copy those that I was not able to obtain an email address for including the Honorable Scott Lang, who I also couldn't find an Email address for. I thank you for your time.
I haven't been to your area of the country for some time and, since my niece graduated from school in Boston and I retired, I probably won't be around there more than a time or two in the rest of my life. However, your Health Department's proposed regulation of E Cigarettes to be treated as if they were real ones prompts me to write.
I expect that you will get plenty of information from various sources and links to the various studies conducted on E cigarettes, including the study done by the FDA. Not the sound bits that the FDA provided but the actual study which shows that there is no more danger in E cigarettes than in FDA approved patches, gum and lozenges. I see no reason why I should repeat information already provided. The ingredients are pretty simple, propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, some nicotine or none, and a bit of flavor, all FDA approved in one way or the other. The vapor or fog created is basically the same way, in extremely small quantity, as the fog generated in theatrical settings.
However, all this readily available information never seems to phase these Health Departments that are guided, or misguided, by rhetoric provided by various ?non-profit?health associations. These organizations are more interested in keeping the status quo and protecting the interests of the Pharmaceutical industry than actually having of positive effect on the health of the nation.
Ill give you the short version of my story. I was 61 a few years ago, a 43 year, 2-3 pack a day cigarette smoker. Actually, I should say confirmed cigarette smoker since I had tried to quit close to two dozen times in the past and had quit trying. My girlfriend had heard of E Cigarettes and I laughed, but she was persistent. I bought one and within a week I was only smoking about a half dozen cigarettes a day and now Im approaching a year and nine months without a drag on one or any desire to smoke. I hardly use my E Cigarette anymore, occasionally in social settings and more to get people to see theres a way out. I feel better, much better, and I thank god my girlfriend talked me into it.
This proposed ordinance, other than restrictions for minors, is not a health proposal, it is a health tragedy. There is not one study that shows there is any danger to bystanders. There is no second hand smoke, heck, there is NO SMOKE! I accept that there is a slim possibility that some unknown, long term risk may be experienced by the vaper but it cant possibly be as dangerous as continuing to smoke. There certainly is no evidence of any short term dangers as five years have past and millions are using the devices with no reported medical issues of any concern.
These devices enable a smoker to break down their habit. They provide the hand to mouth that may be as important in breaking the smoking habit as the nicotine itself. They enable the user to slowly reduce the amount of nicotine that is used until there is no longer a need for any, if that is what the vaper wishes to do. It is the best product invented to give smokers an alternative to smoking and a way out.
There is no logical reason for approving this legislation and I hope the Health Department begins to realize that and changes the regulations to address the minor issue and nothing more. The more open and public the use of E Cigs is, the more chance that smokers will find their way to these products and away from cigarettes.
Ill close with my experience with non-smokers who are strongly against smoking and I know quite a few. I have not found one in my over two years of vaping that has had any objection to it use. In fact, many LIKE the smell of the vapor, one of the nice things about the flavors. It is not cigarette smoke and it doesnt stink.
As full disclosure, I have no financial interest in the E Cigarette industry but do have a fairly large position in the Pharmaceutical industry. One of the companies I hold is a major seller of a stop smoking product. They make a lot of good products, but the industry as a whole has remained ineffective at seriously reducing smoking in our population. Its time for a different direction. I hope you vote wisely. The health of your constituents depends on it.
