A new bill introduced in California on Monday would ban the use of electronic cigarettes in public places and also tighten up restrictions on selling e-cigs to minors.
Electronic cigarettes are gaining in popularity but the health risks associated with them have yet to be determined. It sounds like a perfect time for the state to step in and start crushing some freedoms.
“Whether you get people hooked on e-cigarettes or regular cigarettes, it’s nicotine addiction and it kills,” nanny-stater Democratic state Senator Mark Leno, who introduced the bill, said in a telephone interview. “We’re going to see hundreds of thousands of family members and friends die from e-cigarette use just like we did from traditional tobacco use.”
The bill is looking to regulate e-cigs and add them to the list of tobacco products controlled by the state. This would include banning the use of e-cigs in public places the way cigarettes and other tobacco products are.
The bill was criticized by the American Vaping Association, which said it punished people who are trying to quit smoking cigarettes.
“California smokers deserve truthful information about smoke-free alternatives, not hype and conjecture designed to scare them away from attempting to quit with these innovative technology products,” Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, said in a press release.
On the other side of things, nanny-stater Leno’s bill is backed “by the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association, said the vapor released by the e-cigarettes contains carcinogens, and the nicotine in them is addictive.”
Join the conversation as a VIP Member