Electronic cigarette in New York
City would soon be banned as the authorities are geared up to do implement this
bill. The NYC council voted 43-8 to add the water
vapor cigarette in a 2002 law prohibiting the use of smokeless
cigarettes from the places where real cigarettes are banned. This bill has been
passed in the final city council meeting held recently. With this law, New York
City became having some of the toughest anti smoking legislations in the
country. This approval of the bill by council members has been seen as a
victory for health officials who welcomed the bill whole heartedly.
Jeff Seyler, American Lung
Association of the Northeast said that, “We’re grateful that New Yorkers will
not be exposed to potentially unsafe secondhand emissions from vapor cigarettes.”
This ban is only step behind. Once New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed
the bill, it will be effective in four months. Addressing the press conference,
city council speaker Christine Quinn termed the Smoke Free Air Act “one of our
greatest accomplishments.”
But many vapor cigs makers as well
as users have found this decision baseless. One of the makers of electronic
cigarettes said that since this law has nothing to do with science it has no
foundation. “The reason which authorities have given is not sensible”, says
many e cigarette users as well as makers. Gregory Conley, a legislative
consultant and e cigarette advocate who was sitting in City Council chambers
when the bill passed, said the devices should be treated as markedly different
from traditional cigarettes. “Banning something because it looks like smoking
is not rational health policy,” he said. This battery operated device has e
cig cartridges which contains e liquid and produces vapor.
There are many more people who think
alike. No scientific studies or findings have concluded that electronic
cigarette is harmful. The studies are going on and it is in progress. Even the
FDA has yet not given its verdict. Implementing such rules without any
scientific back up has been considered baseless by many users and makers.
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