Since inhaling tobacco smoke is depended upon by over 40 million nicotine addicts in the USA, and since well over 400,000 people die each year from the sequelae of smoking, and since lethal cigarettes are available on every street corner, it makes perfect sense to hyper-regulate non-toxic e-cigarettes which can help smokers quit. Right?
Well, that s what some mega-brains at the NYC Council apparently believe. We here at ACSH along with devotees of public health and anti-smoking groups exhaled a sigh of relief 3 months ago when the rumor that the Council was planning to ban e-cigarettes altogether was found to be incorrect. Now it seems as if they were not finished trying to limit the use of these devices.
When the package of tobacco-related laws and regulations was finally passed 5 weeks ago, mainly raising the age to purchase tobacco products to 21, it thankfully did not include anything about e-cigarettes, providing hope that the concept of harm reduction supplying the nicotine addict with their craved drug in a much-less-toxic vehicle, including snus and e-cigarettes had actually caught on among the City s powers-that-be. Nope--no such luck.
So when the Health Committee meets on this Wednesday at 10AM, ACSH will be well-represented. We will continue our educational efforts by citing our publications on this subject, handing out articles, and possibly video-taping some Committee members and scientists. Stay tuned.