Workplace policy....Strict legal reading....Is this possible?

[Katcandoo]

I'm putting a link to my state's tobacco-free policy for state offices. I'm not a legal eagle, or looking to make trouble. However, I'm thinking the anti-tobacco movement is more a push for control rather than concern for public health. If a PV doesn't contain nicotine, I.e. zero nic flavored PG/VG, would it still be banned under the policy? Or is their end game about stopping anything that appears to be smoking? Could it possibly be argued as a diet aid; tasting the cinnamon roll* vapor instead of buying the processed food ones from the vending machines (that the agency places there as a "perk" for the employees while promoting weight loss initiatives)?

I'm just throwing out some crazy ideas because I got tired of the 'it's for your own good' spin they put on it. /rant over

http://www.delawarepersonnel.com/policies/docs/tobacco_freeworkplacepolicy_121812.pdf


*Shameless plug for MVB.

 

[bulldog63h]

If there is no nicotine in the liquid, technically it is not a tobacco product is it?

 

[FinallyQuit]

Wow, that really sucks. They up front say "electronic cigarette" is banned, doesn't matter if there is 0 nic in it or not.

We haven't gone that far where I work, although the smokers are relegated to a little hut that we had to fundraise to build, so we didn't have to stand out in the rain to smoke. No smoking in the parking lot, sidewalks, etc. I do use my ecig at my desk, but stealth mode only, and try not to be seen by upper management.

Has your health insurance through your job jumped on the anti-tobacco bandwagon? I have to pay a $60 per month surcharge because I carry dependents on my policy, although they are minors and do not use tobacco. I have to sign a waiver stating that I have been tobacco free for 6 months before I stop paying that fee. If I get diagnosed with something that is due to tobacco use my insurance company does not have to pay any of my claims, and can in fact make me pay back everything they have paid on my behalf if it comes out that I signed that waiver and continued to use tobacco. . .and I don't know if the ecig is considered on this waiver. I'll be looking into that before I let them know that's what I'm using now.

The fat clause comes next, I'm just waiting on it now.

 

[FinallyQuit]

I certify that all persons covered by my health insurance through PEBA Insurance
Benefits (including myself and any dependents) are not currently using, and have not
used, any tobacco products in any form (cigarettes, cigars, pipe, oral tobacco products,
etc.) within the last 6 months.

I think that little "etc." is going to break me.

 

[Sheila Michele 1971]

Nicotine is not tobacco.
And from what I understand even most tobacco flavors (except for the 'NET' type) arent even true tobacco.

 

[barefootntx]

that blows, when my boss found out i gave up the analogs, and was vaping( he had tried it) i was informed i didn't have to use the smoke pen anymore,can use my pv anywhere within confines of our shop, including my office.

 

[Robino1]

Nicotine is not tobacco.
And from what I understand even most tobacco flavors (except for the 'NET' type) arent even true tobacco.

The FDA and the government consider nic a tobacco product.

 

[jpargana]

If there is no nicotine in the juice, how can it be labelled as tobacco product?
It's like having non-alchoolic beer included in an alchool ban: does it make any sense from an health perspective?
Clearly, it's not about health-related science anymore, it's about perception and morality. Some years ago, people feared second hand smoke (and rightly so, IMHO) because of objective (and bad) health effects. Today, people get offended because they see a behaviour that goes against their beliefs. "Nevermind what your beliefs are, and I don't have time to listen to your "theories" of how harmless that disgusting "smoke" is... you're a "smoker", a second-class citizen who should conform to the rest of the respectful and normalized society"...

Saw recently an interesting post at the 'nannying tyrants' blog last week: about an Wales Online article, stating that "Almost a quarter of Welsh adults still smoke, despite the introduction of the smoking ban six years ago". Could not agree more with that post: Why is the article written in a manner that implies that you should not be smoking??

Unfourtunately, to the average ANTZ, smokers and vapers are all alike... underdogs of society.

 

[m1ke]

The FDA and the government consider nic a tobacco product.

So they consider a tomato a tobacco product ?

 

[gthompson]

Nicotine is made from tobacco. There isn't enough nic in tomatoes to use them for such.

 

[evgeny131]

non alcoholic beer still has a trace amount of alcohol .5 percent or something like that....so its considered an alcoholic beverage
i would assume same logic w/ no nic juice

 

[gthompson]

Straight pg/vg juice with nothing added has absolutely no nicotine content.

 

[AngelsBreath]

Not fair, so not fair!

 

[tj99959]

Bottom line is if you have a million or two you could probably challenge the directive in court. Baring that, you have the choice of whether you want to work there or not.

 

[gthompson]

Bottom line is if you have a million or two you could probably challenge the directive in court. Baring that, you have the choice of whether you want to work there or not.

Yep. It's their property and they have the right to make the rules.

 

[tj99959]

Yep. It's their property and they have the right to make the rules.

Not quite in this instance. It's state property, so it belongs to everyone that lives there. So this is very much a different deal than a privately owned company saying what you can/can't do on their property. But it still boils down to only a court of law can decide if the state has the right to do that.

 

[gthompson]

It's state property, so it belongs to everyone that lives there.

In theory only, you won't win that battle.

 

[Robino1]

So they consider a tomato a tobacco product ?

No, they don't. Only nic from tobacco leaves, which is where our nic comes from.

 

[zoiDman]

If there is no nicotine in the juice, how can it be labelled as tobacco product? ...

How does one tell if there is No Nicotine in an e-Liquid by looking at it?

Or Diacetyl? Or Tetrahydrocannabinol for that matter?

 

[chefdude2000]

In Ontario Canada The Smoke-Free Ontario Act (SFOA) and the City of Toronto Municipal Code does not regulate the use of electronic cigarettes, as these products do not contain tobacco. As such, restrictions respecting sale, promotion and use do not apply.