California Lawmakers Disapprove E-Cig Ban

California lawmakers on Wednesday disapproved a measure that was designed to put a ban on sale of electronic cigarettes (e- cigarettes) in vending machines.

The measure (Senate Bill 648) by Sen. Ellen Corbett originally proposed to ban the use of e-cigarettes in the same public places where conventional cigarettes are banned. But the tobacco industry vehemently opposed the measure. That original version of the bill passed in the Senate in 2013 but stalled when it hit California Assembly’s Isadore Hall-led Governmental Organization Committee.

Corbett rewrote the bill, but insertion of some new points was opposed severely by health advocates. When the bill came up in the Assembly Appropriations Committee yesterday, lawmakers were prompt to kill it.

Advocates from the cancer, lung, and heart associations opposed the new version of the bill, saying it would create a definition of e-cigarettes that the industry could misuse to mitigate federal regulatory efforts.

During the hearing, Assemblyman Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) said, “I know you in your heart are trying to do the right thing . But there is a larger battle here. (The industry) would be happy to trade off a ban on vending machines in exchange for evading larger regulation with that definition.”

Both Democrats and Republicans also accused each other for advancing the interests of tobacco companies at the cost of public health.

Corbett, a Democrat from San Leandro, hasn’t taken any donation from tobacco companies over the last five years; while Democrat Isadore Hall has taken $35,700 in campaign contributions from tobacco companies during the same period of time.