Stop religious petition to ban e-cigs in North Carolina

[capecodjim]

Ok, took a look and wouldn't you know.... Congressional Members for Fort Bragg, North Carolina - Richard M. Burr, Kay R. Hagan, Bob R. Etheridge,

Bob Etheridge - House Representative for District 2

Profession: Specialist, United States Army, 1965-1967 Owner, Hardware Store tobacco Farmer

Woops, looks like he is the US house rep. sorry!

How'd I guess????

They don't realize all they're doing is publicizing vaping (I never liked e-cig because anything "cig" sounds nasty).

There won't be any ban. They're raising curiosity which will lead more people to vaping. If it gets picked up by the media it will give vaping even more publicity.

Reasonable people (non-tobacco farmers or neighbors of farmers) will make the right choices when they find out what it really is. I hope they go around telling people vaping is a sin. It just makes them look silly and obviously over the edge.

 

[El Dee]

Look...I'm within 20 miles of Ft. Bragg, NC.. This is the first I've heard of this situation...I'd like to know exactly where this church is located....Maybe stop in and have a word with the pastor..Richard Burr and Kay Hagan....IDK.....Bob Etheridge on the other hand...well let's just say I know him and can gain a private audience with him if needed...Hagan just defeated him BTW...Thanks to the tea party.....A ban I highly doubt...even in the heart of big tobacco country.. It would seem to me the pastor's wife could be best defined as a "Hypocritical Idiot"...E-Cigs save lives....That's the bottom line....

 

[Petrodus]

There won't be any ban. They're raising curiosity which will lead more people to vaping. If it gets picked up by the media it will give vaping even more publicity

True...This is one of the reasons why the FDA stopped "flexing its muscles". They realized every time they "flexed"...5,000 more smokers switched to E-cigarettes. (I made up the 5K number...However, I think it is a very low safe number)

 

[hairball]

I would think that God would pat all vaper's on the back for at least getting off the nasties. This is ridiculous and shows just how ignorant some people are. Sure sounds like you've ...... your sister off royaly. Also, tell her to get a life and not to interfere with ours.

 

[Vocalek]

The first Amendement starts, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;or abridging the freedom of speech…"

If the basis for asking for a ban on PVs is because "using them is a sin", then they are asking the state to pass a law that respects their religion, but ignores all religions that do not believe it is a sin.

The good thing about the petitions is that the wording in them provides you with a basis to challenge any ban that might be passed based on constitutional issues. Even if the law itself does not mention "sin", you can produce copies of the petition to show that religious beliefs were the underlying impetus for passing the law.

Government officials’ religious beliefs may inform their policy decisions so long as advancing religion is not the predominant purpose or primary effect of governmental action. In other words, the predominant purpose and primary effect of governmental action must be nonreligious (secular) in nature. When the Supreme Court considers whether a governmental action has a permissible purpose, it says that the government’s “stated reasons [for its actions] will generally get deference, [but] the secular purpose required has to be genuine, not a sham, and not merely secondary to a religious objective.”15

http://www.adl.org/religious_freedom/WFU-Divinity-Joint-Statement.pdf

 

[Bill Godshall]

The only way e-cig sales can be banned in NC is if the NC State House, Senate and Governor enact it into law.

The legislative session is over for this year, and next year's session won't begin until January.

If/when legislation is actually introduced (to ban the sale of e-cigs), that's the time to contact members of the committee that the bill is referred to (e.g. Health Committee).

 

[Spills]

Alright listen im only gonna type this once. If you have seen *The Water Boy*
It goes something like this *ECIGS ARE THE DEVIL* Followed by chanting and dancing with snakes etc...
Man I love those people! Great form of entertainment and a great place to point my finger and laugh!

I mean really cant you see she just wants to SAVE YOUR SOUL! Show a little respect LOL

 

[Jessara]

Would it be possible for anyone to get an *actual copy* of the petition that was sent in with 1500 signatures? It would be nice to see the wording, and know if/how pv's were misrepresented.

I would guess they had the sense NOT to just say "cigs are a sin" on the petition. My guess is they listed all sorts of health concerns and *perceptions* regarding e-cigs - and most likely misinformed, ignorant views of what an e-cig actually is. It would be nice to know what was said so we could counter that "information" with actual facts.

 

[JonnyVapΣ]

The best way to beat this crusade is by diversion. Car accidents kill more than 30,000 people a year in the U.S. FARS Encyclopedia
Reported electronic cigarette deaths: I couldn't find any, but;
"AAPHP estimates that a harm reduction policy based on honestly informing current
smokers of the relative risks of the various tobacco products could save the lives of 4
million of the 8 million current adult cigarette smokers in the United States who will
otherwise die of a tobacco related illness over the next twenty years. This, in turn, would
create a situation in which annual death rates from all tobacco products twenty years from
now would be less than 10,000 deaths per year (as opposed to the current 400,000 per
year), with a corresponding reduction in illness and death attributable to environmental
tobacco smoke."
AAPHP White Paper: The E-Cigarette in the Context of Overall Tobacco Control


2 paths to send the zealots on. Things that are proven to kill. Cars and cigarettes. That should keep them busy for a while.

 

[Infernia]

Look...I'm within 20 miles of Ft. Bragg, NC.. This is the first I've heard of this situation...I'd like to know exactly where this church is located....Maybe stop in and have a word with the pastor..Richard Burr and Kay Hagan....IDK.....Bob Etheridge on the other hand...well let's just say I know him and can gain a private audience with him if needed...Hagan just defeated him BTW...Thanks to the tea party.....A ban I highly doubt...even in the heart of big tobacco country.. It would seem to me the pastor's wife could be best defined as a "Hypocritical Idiot"...E-Cigs save lives....That's the bottom line....

Guess I'm not too far away from you, about 40min from Fort Bragg. I don't have power.. I don't have pull but I'm willing to act if it's at all possible. I can sign a petition too and dial a phone number for a State Rep just to give them my .02 . Religous Zealots are scary people, especially in large numbers.
This kind of thing makes my blood boil. I already had a bout with a few zealots not too long ago telling my kindergarten child she was going to hello because she didn't attend their church. Don't get me started.
Anyway, if there is anything we can do 'en masse' please do tell.
They do have online petition sites that you can set up to send to congressmen/women. It is set up so there are legitimate emails sent to them and each user must be registered so they can't be spammed. Just a thought.

 

[Prodigal441]

Why can't we all just get along. I really wish people would do true research before trying to ban something they know nothing about.