R Street disappointed by NYC e-cigarette ban
NEW YORK (Dec. 19, 2013) – The R Street Institute expressed disappointment with today’s vote by the New York City Council to ban the use of electronic cigarettes in public places.
Under the ordinance approved by the council, e-cigarettes are added to the list of products whose use is banned in bars, restaurants, office buildings and public parks and beaches under the city’s Smoke-Free Air Act. The legislation gives business owners up to a year to install signage indicating that use of e-cigarettes – commonly called “vaping” – is not allowed.
R Street scholars believe that public health policy that serves to discourage e-cigarette usage would have the effect of encouraging smokers to continue with their fatal habits, rather than switch to a product that presents less than 2% of the risks posed by tobacco cigarettes. A policy study published last month by R Street and authored by Dr. Joel Nitzkin, former co-chair of the Tobacco Control Task Force of the American Association of Public Health Physicians, noted that exhaled e-cigarette vapor presents no threat to non-users that would justify a ban.
“The e-cigarette vapor inhaled by users consists mainly of water, propylene glycol and glycerin, with small amounts of nicotine and flavoring,” Nitzkin wrote. “There is no carbon monoxide, no tar and no products of combustion. There is no side-stream smoke or vapor. None. Propylene glycol and glycerin are generally recognized as safe. Propylene glycol has been used as the propellant in asthma inhalers and is the main ingredient in theatrical fog.”
“Misrepresenting e-cigarettes to be as harmful or attractive enough to teen non-smokers to increase teen use of tobacco/nicotine products is both factually incorrect and damaging to the public’s health,” Nitzkin added.
