Support HR 2058: Save Vaping

[dannno]

Recently CASAA sent out a Call to Action urging U.S. vapers to contact their congressional representatives to express their support for HR 2058. For those who do not know, this bill would protect the vaping industry by changing the grandfather date for “deemed tobacco products" as proposed by the FDA. This change would allow for all vapor products currently on the market to remain on the market without being subject to the burdensome (read: prohibitive) pre-market FDA approval application process.


It is extremely important that we as a community support legislative efforts such as this. Click here and you will be directed to a form from CASAA. After filling out your address, it will direct you to a page with a fully editable email supporting HR 2058 that will be sent on your behalf to President Obama, both of your State Senators, and the Congressional Representative for your District.

This only takes about 30 seconds and it is the best resource we have for influencing the national conversation on vaping legislation. Please consider taking the time to send this important message!

http://cqrcengage.com/casaa/app/write-a-letter?0&engagementId=101154

[Lucille]

If those fascist bastards ban my V2 ecigs and vanilla juice. well I just don't know what I'll do. Smoke more that's for sure.

[Dianne]

Do you think the hidden agenda is protecting the tobacco industry? Everything they do in this Congress are for all the wrong reasons.

[dannno]

Do you think the hidden agenda is protecting the tobacco industry? Everything they do in this Congress are for all the wrong reasons.

Yes, in the name of protecting the children..

[Christopher A. Brown]

http://cqrcengage.com/casaa/app/write-a-letter?0&engagementId=101154
The reference story page crashes my phone browser, I'll try and remember it tomorrow when I have power and wifi for the laptop.

ON EDIT:
I sourced another page for reference, and that was what was crashing my phone browser. I did so because the petition did not contain enough info on vaping to know really what it was about.

Very informative article BTW. I signed the petition.

http://gizmodo.com/5-facts-that-everyone-gets-wrong-about-vaping-1659938937

[Anti Federalist]

Not a good day in AmeriKa unless something is being banned.

[Aratus]

true, Anti Federalist, tis true...

[dannno]

Call to action for Californians -

http://blog.casaa.org/2015/08/california-special-session-bills.html


Thursday, August 13, 2015
California "special session" bills threaten consumer access, choice, and use of smoke-free vapor products.

Even if you haven’t been paying very close attention to California’s legislature this year, you are probably still aware of the relentless attacks on vaping and vapers at both the local and state levels. You may have also heard that by the grace of procedural magic, Senator Leno and others have raised several bills from the dead and are bringing them back to the table during a “special session” which is expected to begin on or after Monday, August 17th, 2015.

Chief among CASAA’s concerns is the repeated effort to redefine vapor products as tobacco products -- SB 5 and AB 6. If adopted, this definitional change would automatically subject these smoke-free, tobacco-free products to the same regulations as combustible cigarettes (i.e. place bans, licensing, and eventually taxes).

Please take action NOW by sending a message to California Lawmakers urging them to oppose this collection of anti-vaping legislation.

Oppose Special Session Anti-Vaping Bills - Send an Email


For those of you who are on Twitter, we have provided a collection of pre-filled tweets to send to Assembly members and Senators that will be participating in the special session.

Fight for Your Right to Vape - Send a Tweet


California SFATA Chapters have done a lot of the legwork on this issue and continue to be heavily engaged. For more details, opportunities to take action, and updates, please follow NorCal SFATA and get involved.

http://blog.casaa.org/2015/08/california-special-session-bills.html

[Warlord]

they want to ban it

[GunnyFreedom]

Done. They can take my vape from my cold dead hands. Molon labe.

[dannno]

Done. They can take my vape from my cold dead hands. Molon labe.

Ya I finally got to the point where I'm getting stuff to rebuild my own atomizers.. if they threaten to ban it would just be a matter of getting some nicotine and I'll bet you could order non-nicotine ejuice online somewhere still.

[dannno]

Senator's response:




Thank you for contacting me to express your views about electronic cigarettes. I appreciate the time you took to write and welcome this opportunity to respond.



As you know, electronic cigarettes, or "e-cigarettes," typically contain liquid nicotine which is vaporized and inhaled by the user. I recognize that these devices have become popular in recent years and that some individuals have been able to use them successfully as smoking cessation aids.



While I am a strong supporter of smoking cessation aids, I believe it is important that consumers have accurate information about their safety and effectiveness. Nicotine is a highly addictive and dangerous drug, and some public health groups have expressed concern that e-cigarettes may be marketed to children and other vulnerable populations as a "safe" alternative to traditional cigarettes. In addition, there is a lack of research about the effectiveness of electronic cigarettes as smoking cessation aids and about the safety of these products, some of which have been found to contain traces of toxic chemicals. Courts have ruled that e-cigarette manufacturers must submit evidence of a product's safety and effectiveness in controlling cigarette cravings before advertising an e-cigarette for this purpose.



On April 24, 2014, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced proposed rules to regulate electronic cigarettes. These regulations would restrict sales of e-cigarettes and related products to adults at least 18 years of age, and would require a health warning to be displayed on all products. Additionally, e-cigarette manufacturers would be required to register with the FDA. Any new products would be subject to FDA testing and approval before being marketed for sale. The FDA must consider public comments on the draft rule before it is finalized.



Again, thank you for writing. If you have additional questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841 or visit my website at http://feinstein.senate.gov. Best regards.


Sincerely yours,


Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator


My response back:



Senator Feinstein,

I am ok with making e-cigarettes 18+ (they already are!) and I suppose a health warning isn't the worst thing in the world (though I find it unnecessary and useless). The biggest problem is making these companies submit to the FDA. This is only going to make e-cigarettes worse. Do you know how many hundreds of toxic chemical additives are added to tobacco cigarettes? The FDA has approved these chemicals, they have forced cigarette companies to add additional toxic chemicals (to prevent the cigarettes from staying lit for fire danger) and these added chemicals are actually worse for you than plain organic tobacco cigarettes! Why on earth do we want to put more products under their purview? What it will do is make it more expensive for smaller companies to create better, safer products and will entrench the big companies who are able to afford compliance. They will use cheaper ingredients that the FDA has "approved", yet are not necessarily the safest option. I don't think even a tiny portion of what the FDA approves is safe at all. I am an individual and I believe I have the right to make these decisions myself, not crony politicians and regulators.

Some studies have shown that e-cigarettes are up to 99% safer than smoking tobacco. The one study that showed that they produced toxic chemicals with abnormal/unusable conditions also showed that they don't produce those toxic chemicals under normal/usable conditions. I would like to see more studies done. The fact is, however, that the e-cigarette community is concerned with their own health and safety and there is information out there about what type of ingredients should be avoided and companies have been pressured in the past to remove these substances using market forces. For example, Virgin Vapor uses only vegetable glycerin and organic ingredients for flavorings that they have extracted themselves. The FDA will put these companies out of business in favor of the larger companies who use cheaper ingredients and mass produce their e-juices.

So if you want to make things worse, make the safer alternative to smoking more expensive and more dangerous, then please go ahead and put e-cigarettes under the purview of the FDA.

If you want to re-think your position and give the power of creating better, safer alternatives to smoking using market forces which work much better than top-down regulation written by cronies, please join me and oppose regulation of e-cigarettes at the Federal level!

Lastly, you are incorrect when you say that nicotine is a dangerous substance. It's actually quite safe to ingest nicotine and it has many therapeutic beneficial effects. What is not particularly healthy is smoking the plant that the nicotine is connected to, especially with all of the added chemicals. Vaporizing so far has not shown to cause any harm, in my opinion, and while I invite more studies I wish the government would not step in and ruin this industry just like that have so many others.