Vaping is not Evil – We are NOT the problem
An open letter to the mayors, councillors, and health units in Toronto and Aurora.
As you consider bylaw changes to effect bans on the use of electronic cigarettes, please be aware that more than 25% of your residents are smokers, many of which have chosen electronic cigarettes as an alternative. While I understand there is nothing whatsoever you can do to prevent the use of hardware already controlled by federal regulations, your considerations are based entirely on the eLiquids that are used in those devices.
Nicotine is a federally controlled substance and the electronic cigarette industry is already complying with those laws.
There are basically three ingredients used for electronic cigarettes. All of these ingredients you are already personally using and consuming on a daily basis. And you own equipment and inventory these ingredients for the benefit of the municipality.
To be legal, a ban on the use of electronic cigarettes means that you will also have to ban their equivalents:
1. The fog making machine used at some municipal events, arenas, and commercial properties will also have to be banned anywhere tobacco cigarettes are banned. You see, they use the same Propylene Glycol to generate the fog … the same Propylene Glycol that generates the vapor in an electronic cigarette. You will have to ban McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets and a list of 14 other of their products that contain Propylene Glycol. You’ll have to ban a bunch of products from Burger King and Wendys too — and a ton of other restaurant’s dishes. Plus, many grocery stores will have emptier shelves after your ban too. Quite a few bans coming, Propylene Glycol is also used in cake mixes, soft drinks, popcorn, food colourings, fat-free ice cream and sour cream. It also protects food from freezing and helps as a preservative. It’s used extensively in toiletries and cosmetics too and a considerable number of household items (like room deodorizers, cleaners, sanitizers, and other products labelled as “non-toxic”.
2. Vegetable glycerin is a simple polyol — a sugar alcohol — used extensively in foods as a thickening agent and a sweetener. It’s also used in low-fat and diet foods. So, anything with icing on it (like muffins, cakes) should be banned as well. So would most cough syrups, toothpaste, mouthwashes, and skin care products. Shaving cream, hair care products, soap, and personal lubricants as well.
3. Flavorings. Oh my … I don’t think there is a single product you eat or drink that doesn’t contain flavorings. Flavorings are not just for consumption, but most aerosol products also contain flavorings to enhance scent and odor.
And, we’re back to nicotine. The only ingredient you can really sink your teeth into. But you have a problem here. Many users of electronic cigarettes do not use nicotine. That’s the goal for us vapers: go from the stinky tobacco sticks that contain over 4000 chemicals and more than 70 carcinogens to a healthier life style. Some of us choose electronic cigarettes as an alternative. It’s certainly proven (and documented in studies) to be more effective than other alternatives. Yet, it isn’t a smoke cessation product and no one claims it is a cure for any health issues.
If it is a cure for anything at all, it’s a cure for the financial drain on the public purse that cancer and other diseases caused by smoking. It is a cure for absenteeism due to these health problems that smoking causes.
Don’t ban it, gheez, encourage it.
The “proof” you are being offered to consider is flawed. It is based on anecdoctal news reports and selected research studies. All of these have been debunked. There are a considerable number of reports available that offer the real story of electronic cigarettes. Second-hand vapour is safe. Propylene Glycol is safe. Vegetable Glycerin is safe. Flavorings are safe. And while nicotine is addictive, it is also safe — it does not cause cancer, digestive diseases, or other lung issues. About the only negative thing proven about nicotine is that it constricts blood vessels — but then again, so does that cocktail or beer you enjoy.
The lobbying efforts to have electronic cigarettes controlled as a tobacco product make very little sense. The only common element between tobacco products and electronic cigarettes is nicotine. Electronic cigarettes also produce a vapour that simulates tobacco smoke.
A ban will be challenged, of that I have no doubt. For example, there is absolutely nothing you can do legally to prevent an electronic cigarette user from vaping anywhere he wants when the eLiquid he is using contains no nicotine.
As a former smoker, I may also be your next former supporter. And so might the other 25% of the residents you are targeting with your proposed changes.
By: Andy Prevost
Filed under: Vaping 
