Baltimore Maryland To Ban Indoor Use

New legislation in Baltimore Maryland would prohibit the indoor use of “electronic smoking devices” (aka E-Cigarettes despite the fact that they emit NO smoke in any area where actual smoking is prohibited. Actually before I would any further into this article we are going to have a quick English lesson.

ENGLISH LESSON:

Not that we have that straightened out, back to the topic at hand.

The bill would not only prohibit the use of E-Cigarettes where smoking isn’t allowed, but it could also regulate the placement of E-Cigarettes in retail establishments that sell E-Cigarettes with exemptions. The proposed legislation also restricts the sales of E-Cigarettes to minors and imposes civil citations for any violations.

Councilman James Kraft introduced this legislation (legislative file number 14-0371) and the bill is currently assigned to the Judiciary and Legislative Investigations Committee. The committee requested reports from the City Solicitor, the Department of Health, the Environmental Control Board, and the Department of Finance. These reports are due June 4, 2014. But, the Committee could schedule a hearing before June 1, 2014 if all reports are received by the Committee. To date, the Council has not scheduled a hearing.

You can submit written comments either in person at the hearing, or by fax or email prior to the hearing. The staffer in the Office of Council Services for the Judicial and Legislation Investigations Committee is Marguerite Murray (see legislative contact list) informed us that you can submit your written comments to her via email.

What To Say:

1. You are a Baltimore City- Baltimore metro-area, or Maryland resident and while you support bans on sales to minors, you oppose banning e-cigarette use where smoking is prohibited. (If you are responding to this Local Alert and are not a state resident, please mention any connection you have to the area, for example, you travel to Baltimore City on business, vacation or have friends/family in the area.)

2. Tell your story on how switching to an e-cigarette has changed your life.

3. Clarify that:

a. Smoking bans are enacted to protect the public from the harm of secondhand smoke, but e-cigarettes have not been found to pose a risk to bystanders. In fact, all evidence to date shows that the low health risks associated with e-cigarettes are comparable to other smokeless nicotine products.

b. The low risks of e-cigarettes is supported by research done by Dr. Siegel of Boston University, Dr. Eissenberg of Virginia Commonwealth, Dr Maciej L Goniewicz of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Dr. Laugesen of Health New Zealand, Dr. Igor Burstyn of Drexel University, and by the fact that the FDA testing, in spite of its press statement, failed to find harmful levels of carcinogens or toxic levels of any chemical in the vapor.

c. A comprehensive review conducted by Dr. Igor Burstyn of Drexel University School of Public Health based on over 9,000 observations of e-cigarette liquid and vapor found “no apparent concern” for bystanders exposed to e-cigarette vapor, even under “worst case” assumptions about exposure.

d. Electronic cigarette use is easy to distinguish from actual smoking. Although some e-cigarettes resemble real cigarettes, many do not. It is easy to tell when someone lights a cigarette from the smell of smoke. E-cigarette vapor is practically odorless, and generally any detectable odor is not unpleasant and smells nothing like smoke. Additionally, e-cigarette users can decide whether to release any vapor (“discreet vaping”). With so little evidence of use, enforcing use bans on electronic cigarettes would be nearly impossible.

e. The ability to use electronic cigarettes in public spaces will actually improve public health by inspiring other smokers to switch and reduce their health risks by an estimated 99%.