Health officials hope a new set of rules will make electronic cigarettes as taboo as conventional smokes.
Citing fears of toxic chemicals and corrupting the youth, Santa Clara County supervisors voted unanimously to update an anti-smoking ordinance to include e-cigs. That means no lighting up—even electronically—in pretty much any county property or unincorporated part of the South Bay.
E-cigs, more commonly called vaporizers or vapes, use a battery to heat up a nicotine-infused, often flavored liquid. Instead of smoke, they emit sweet-scented puffs of ephemeral vapor.
Supervisor Ken Yeager, who led the charge for stricter rules, says they also emit toxins, encourage more nicotine use, entice kids to smoke and “threaten the county’s goal of promoting a healthy community.”
Research backing that up is nominal but growing, and federal regulations are far behind the burgeoning vape trend. The worry has more to do with social norms and the threat of undoing work from all the anti-tobacco campaigning that’s cut back the nation’s smoking habit, says county Health Officer Sara Cody.
“The lack of regulation … [has] contributed to increasing social acceptance of e-cigarettes and the misperception that these products are somehow safe,” she says, adding that vapes could act as gateway to traditional tobacco-packed cigarettes.
> Health officials hope a new set of rules will make electronic cigarettes as taboo as conventional smokes.
Too many Puritain busybodies on the public payroll with not enough to do.
Where is Donald Trump when we need him?
“You’re FIRED!”
These idiotic Politicians have nothing better to do than this ?
Vaping is saving lives. I’m not sure why you underhandedly passed this ordinance. Oh wait, I am. You sure didn’t want any opposition. Show me the proof please. Jeez! I can’t wait to vote you all out of office! Thanks for nothing!
This is just their attempt to help with getting California smoke free by 2030. Add this to the stricter rules for apartment complexes and hotels; and the fact that you can be ticketed for smoking if there’s a minor in your car, and the annoyances just keep rising. But they might not realize that most people who smoke aren’t broke and have the money to fight stupid bans like this. And I’m curious… Are the people doing the research on vapes the same ones who keep insisting their research shows that there are no health benefits in Marijuana?