I sent Carl the link to this thread - hopefully he'll set us straight.
But I always keep in mind that there were plenty of studies showing ETS poses no significant health risk to bystanders in public places (and especially outdoors) and none that show it IS a real health risk in public, yet the ANTZ were still able to get smoking banned just about everywhere. Unfortunately, I think it will take much more than studies showing that the vapor isn't a threat to bystanders to keep the ANTZ from getting these bans passed.![]()
THANKS for forwarding the question!
Those studies were based upon actual ETS only, and by definition would have been invalid if we already knew by then that even smoke from campfires and stove fires is a cancer contributor.
The difference with vapor is that we know EXACTLY everything that comes out. Not 6000 chemicals, it is 3 chemicals + food flavorings. So if we know that all 4 of those things are already in the air, we know it's no more harmful than restaurant air.
And notice I did NOT say harmless! I would not be at all surprised to find that studies of cooks or waitresses show that restaurant air is not as safe as, say, beach air. That is another reason I keep emphasizing the fajita connection (sizzling plates at the next table that are STILL cooking, emittting oils into the air!)
"The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes
I can NOT buy the argument I hear from my Libertarian friends that it is OK for them to risk permanent harm to my children until it is proven non-harmful, and the proper remedy is a later lawsuit. Lawsuits do not undo such harm. I 100% agree with you that harm must be PROVEN before banning sales and private use of something, and even then it is arguable -- IMO there is a difference between what should be sellable in liquor stores vs. toy stores.
But the ONLY reason I'll vape upwind of my or ANYBODY ELSE's grandchildren is the collection of data and studies now available to THR advocates.
I also agree that all those other [unprintable] things the ANTZ say have to be countered at the Federal and regulatory level. But the state and city and landlord level is supposedly based upon bystander harm, and support for them is DEFINIITELY based upon a perception of bystander risk. So when talking where the public can hear, at the state level and below, I'd like to see us make sure that the FIRST thing we do is make the strongest scientifically-correct statement possible about our knowledge concerning SHV.
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