If you were thinking about packing an e-cigarette in your checked baggage on a future airline trip, think again.
The federal government has issued a new rule that bans packing electronic cigarettes in your checked luggage. You can still carry on an e-cigarette but you will not be allowed to charge it on the plane.
The government loves to regulate new products and e-cigs are no exception.
The Department of Transportation says there have been at least 26 instances since 2009 where e-cigs have caught fire or caused explosions while packed inside luggage. The rule will go into effect in the next 2 weeks.
And while we are on the topic of e-cig regulation, on Monday the American Academy of Pediatricians called for stronger regulation of tobacco and e-cigarettes to protect young people. Tobacco use among teens has been declining since the 1970s, nevertheless, the AAP wants to raise the age to buy cigarettes and e-cigs to 21.
The group also wants to see e-cigs regulated the same way tobacco is regulated.
“Tobacco use continues to be a major health threat to children, adolescents and adults. The developing brains of children and teens are particularly vulnerable to nicotine, which is why the growing popularity of e-cigarettes among adolescents is so alarming and dangerous to their long-term health,” Dr. Karen M. Wilson, chair of the AAP Section on Tobacco Control and section head of Pediatric Hospital Medicine at Children’s Hospital Colorado, said in a statement.
I don’t know what this lady doctor is talking about. The rate of smoking is dropping among teens and overall smoking levels are at all-time low. There are laws against minors or adolescents purchasing e-cigs. Is nicotine bad when it’s not delivered through tobacco cigarettes? I don’t know but it doesn’t seem like it. Nicotine gum is available right next to the e-cigs in 7-11 and nicotine patches are sold in all sorts of store, so how bad could it be if the government hasn’t banned it yet?
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