E-Cigarettes Banned on Domestic Flights, Reports ASH

Link: http://www.prlog.org/10942504-cigarettes-banned-on-domestic-flights-reports-ash.html

 

Despite claims by e-cigarette [e-cig] sellers that their product can be used to self administer nicotine on airplanes where smoking is prohibited, all domestic airlines ban the use of these untested products which the FDA has declared are illegal

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) – Sep 20, 2010 – Despite frequent claims by e-cigarette [e-cig] sellers that their product can be used to self administer nicotine on airplanes where smoking is prohibited, all U.S. domestic airlines ban the use of these untested products which the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] has declared are illegal, reports public interest law professor John Banzhaf, Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), who led the campaign to ban their use in flight. http://www.aolnews.com/health/article/despite-ad-claims- ...

 

E-cigs give off a vapor which is a mixture of nicotine (a deadly and addictive drug which can contribute to fatal heart attacks), propylene glycol (a respiratory irritant used in antifreeze and known to cause respiratory tract infections), and other substances the FDA has labeled "carcinogenic" and "toxic." It appears that these same substances are then also exhaled where those around the user -- including the elderly, those with special sensitivities, as well as infants and toddlers -- are also forced to inhale them.

 

Previously the FDA had warned that: e-cigs pose "acute health risks" which "cannot seriously be questioned" because they contain "toxic chemicals." It also said that:

* e-cigarette users suffer from a wide variety of potentially serious symptoms "including racing pulse, dizziness, slurred speech, mouth ulcers, heartburn, coughing, diarrhea, and sore throat"

* "nicotine [one of the two major chemicals used in the product] in high doses can be dangerous and even fatal"

* the toxic chemical diethylene glycol was found in the e-cigarettes which were tested

* various mutagenic, carcinogenic, and genotoxic chemicals were also present in the products

* the cartridges containing the nicotine and other toxic chemicals, many of which come from China, are subject to "none of the manufacturing controls required for FDA-approved nicotine-delivery products" [like nicotine gum, patches, inhalers, sprays, etc.].

 

Subsequent to the FDA's warning, independent scientists have warned about additional potential dangers to users of e-cigs: www.newsrx.com/press-releases/11551.html

 

The Air Force, and the Marine base at Quantico, have joined other jurisdictions in banning the use of e-cigarettes [e-cigs] at least in the workplace, citing the potential health dangers to users from toxic chemicals as set forth in a memo by the Air Force Surgeon General.

 

He also noted a concern originally expressed by ASH that these "illegal" devices can also be used to surreptitiously administer drugs other than nicotine. ASH had previously reported ads for e-cigs which administer Cialis and "potent" marijuana. www.cigarettesreviews.com/fda-may-ban-marijuana-e-cigarettes

 

As the Surgeon General's memo warned: "Commanders also need to be aware that the cartridges used in these devices are replaceable and could be used to discreetly deliver substances other than nicotine."

 

New Jersey and Suffolk County, NY, have banned the use of e-cigs wherever smoking is prohibiting, and New York as well as several other states are considering similar bans. Many countries have also banned or severely restricted the sale of the product outright, as have several states.

 

Banzhaf, who first forced airlines to provide no-smoking sections, and ultimately to ban smoking entirely, said that the health advantages these bans brought should not be subverted by an untested product which forced persons in the vicinity of the user to inhale nicotine, propylene glycol, and a host of other toxic, mutagenic, and genotoxic substances, and thereby serve as guinea pigs to see how serious the adverse health effects are.

 

PROFESSOR JOHN F. BANZHAF III

Professor of Public Interest Law at GWU,

FAMRI Dr. William Cahan Distinguished Professor,

FELLOW, World Technology Network, and

Executive Director and Chief Counsel

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)

America's First Antismoking Organization

2013 H Street, NW

Washington, DC 20006, USA

(202) 659-4310 // (703) 527-8418

Internet: http://ash.org/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/AshOrg

香港是怎麼禁煙的 – 南方日報

朱迅垚

 

前段時間，香港導演彭浩翔的電影《志明與春嬌》在內地頗火了一陣。

 

故事說的就是一對男女煙民的愛情故事，起源就是香港禁煙這個背景，因為禁煙，工作時候不能抽煙的煙民就喜歡跑到專門的地方抽煙，一來二去熟識了，生出情愫。這個故事我覺得挺真的。我去過香港幾次，一開始不知道香港的禁煙措施，總看到十字路口的垃圾桶邊有不少抽煙的男女。我跟香港的朋友講，香港抽煙的女孩子比內地多很多，他們大笑說，大陸抽煙的女孩子更多，只不過是因為香港的煙民都跑到街上來了，你才覺得多。

 

所以，《志明與春嬌》的故事起源是可信的，而且也說明一個道理，禁煙這樣的措施對市民的生活而言說小雖小，說大也大，不只是挪了一個抽煙的地方而已，市民的生活可能會因此有些變化。香港最初禁煙的時候，香港煙民"維權"的聲浪頗大，認為利益將受損的餐飲和娛樂業者甚至集會抗議。但是，香港政府一直力挺禁煙。效果很明顯，禁煙3年來，公共場所已經基本實現了無煙化，餐飲、娛樂業的生意也並未受影響，相反，人們越來越喜歡空氣清新的用餐和娛樂環境，而煙民也逐漸意識到，主張自己吸煙的權利不能侵害他人的健康權。

 

從香港以及世界各地禁煙的最後過程來看，禁煙本身是進步的潮流。從今天起，廣州也將要趕上這個潮流進入禁煙時代，《廣州市控制吸煙條例》將正式實施。

 

不過，從目前的進程來看，民間幾乎沒有這方面的意識，問及市民，往往是兩種回答，要麼不了解，要麼認為禁煙很難推進下去。

 

從香港的經驗來看，立法、稅收與教育宣傳是禁煙成功的三個主要原因。在香港，香煙的價格是偏高的，一般都要40元以上，這樣的價格會對一般收入的市民形成約束，這主要歸功于政府在香煙上的稅收政策。另外，香港禁煙的成功也與禁煙宣傳做得好分不開。禁煙期間，在香港處處能感受到禁煙的氣氛。我在香港的時候就經常看到很多地方貼著的禁煙標語和警示標貼。香港傳媒也是很重要的助推器，從禁煙開始，港媒就一直在報紙上分成挺禁煙派與反禁煙派的辯論，一旦有個抗議禁煙的集會，更是成為全城焦點，名嘴主播都輪番跑上來說一番，最終禁煙派畢竟在道義上占上風，大家也就漸漸都明白了禁煙的好處。我個人覺得廣州在宣傳方面做得還很不夠，從某些市民對此事的反應就能看出來。

 

不過，我覺得香港和廣州最大的不同不在於稅收政策和宣傳。因為我相信，只要願意做，廣州市政府在這兩方面都能做到。最大的不同在於：香港禁煙最大的困難在立法環節，而廣州禁煙最大的困難在執法環節。對於香港來說，每修訂一次禁煙條例總會引起軒然大波，不像廣州，通過禁煙條例不是什麼大問題，最難的是怎樣執行。因為禁煙雖是小問題，但是所牽扯的範圍太過廣泛，並且縱容公共場所抽煙的違法成本太小，這和國內闖紅燈或者隨地吐痰的現象屢禁不止是同一個道理，只要違法成本小並且違法人群廣泛，往往最後就很難推進下去。