The theme of Gregory Conley’s latest article on Washington Times is the call for sensible ecig regulations. Conley, who is the president of American Vaping Association, likewise justifies the need for such policies in this piece.
States Moving Toward Prohibition
There were already 41 US states that have adopted laws that ban ecig sales to Minors. A similar legislation in is now awaiting the signature of the governor. Thus, only 8 states including Massachusetts have not yet taking the common sense step of restricting the sale of ecigs to minors.
However, there are some states wherein legislators simply cannot ban sale of the products to underage consumers. These legislators clearly want to get more from ecigs by adding language to legislations; an unwise decision to crack down ecigs and confuse them with tobacco products that have been deemed harmful to health.
Failed To Introduce An Ecig Law
In New Mexico, Oregon and Massachusetts, ecig sale ban to minors were introduced, but failed to be approved as law. The anti-tobacco legislators in those states refused to pass these bills unless the language about additional bans and taxes on ecigs are specified.
In Massachusetts, for example, such a ban would have also defined ecigs as tobacco, which ecigs obviously are not. If approved, this bill would have required businesses to absurdly disallow vaping inside their establishments.
Conley explained that this perception prevents something that everybody wants, which is to keep ecigs away from youths. This perception likewise wrongly paints ecigs as capable of exposing people to the same risks that tobacco products have.
Proven Not As Harmful As Real Cigarettes
Electronic cigarettes contain no tobacco. None of the tar that combustible cigarettes contain is present in ecigs. There are also secondhand smoke harms from using ecigs. Ecig vapors do not soil the clothes, the hands and the hair with offensive odors. Moreover, studies show that ecigs might be the most effective tool that can help long time smokers in breaking a difficult habit.
In England, there is the latest study published in the Addiction Journal that polled 6,000 smokers who have attempted to quit a year before. 20% of the respondents said that they have successfully quit with the help of electronic cigarettes. This number is much higher than the percentage of those who used nicotine patches or gums and other NRTs at 10%.
A Great Help To Public Health Goal
Conley’s article also mentioned that ecigarettes directly contribute to the achievement of FDA’s goal to put an end to smoking related deaths and diseases.
Sensible Ecig Regulations
Not all legislatures are looking at ecigs in a negative way and thus manifest nonsensical approach in regulating them. For example, Rhode Island and Connecticut, which are neighboring states of Massachusetts, provide examples on how ecigs are treated right.
They enacted new laws that prohibited sale of ecigs to minors and also accurately defined ecigs as electronic nicotine delivery systems. This shows that they understand what ecigs really are: not tobacco products, but as technology products.
Ecigs are anti-tobacco products because they help people in breaking the addiction on tobacco cigarettes. In Massachusetts where anti-tobacco and anti-smoking groups and lawmakers opposed to a similar bill, kids are still legally allowed to access and purchase ecigs. Same also happens in Oregon, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Texas, North Dakota, Montana and Maine.
Ecigs are disruptive and innovative technology so popular that they have outpaced the ability of regulators and lawmakers in coming up with sensible rules in governing the industry. In their attempt to regulate the technological products, legislators, regulators and medical experts do things that only show their lack of complete understanding about ecigarettes by lumping them in the same category as tobacco products.
This is a mistake, only said, which stops the access to valuable substitutes to tobacco for smokers wanting to cut down or eliminate smoking. Furthermore, this step is a hurdle to small businesses trying to beat Big Tobacco with inappropriate regulations that add more challenges to business growth.
