February 20th, 2014
From: OhioWatchdog.org
By Maggie Thurber
The Ohio Legislature has voted to ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors, but how the products are classified is still a concern — and money is the issue.
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While a separate designation for e-cigarettes might result in fewer tax collections, could it be a good thing for people trying to quit smoking?
Jeff Stier, a senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research, thinks so.
“Nicotine,” he told a New York City Council Health Committee in December, “is addictive, but not particularly harmful, especially at the levels consumed by smokers or users of e-cigarettes.”
February 13th, 2014
From: Santa Monica Daily Press
By Daniel Archuleta
Rep. Henry A. Waxman, Sen. Tom Harkin, and Rep. Peter Welch sent a letter to California Attorney Gen. Kamala D. Harris, Iowa Attorney Gen. Tom Miller, and Vermont Attorney Gen. William H. Sorrell urging them to classify electronic cigarettes as cigarettes under the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) to prevent e-cigarette companies from targeting youth and getting them addicted to their products.
February 6th, 2014
From: Bloomberg/Businessweek
By Megan McArdle
The first time J. Andries Verleur tried an e-cigarette in 2008, he burned his lip and accidentally inhaled the nicotine fluid. “It was one of the worst products I ever tried,” he recalls, “but the idea was amazing.”
Verleur, a heavy smoker, was living in Prague and happened to spot the strange new product in a Vietnamese grocery store. The crude early version obviously didn’t work very well, but Verleur, a serial entrepreneur, immediately realized that if it did work, it could upend the tobacco industry. That was worth looking into: Cigarettes are a global business that generates more than half a trillion dollars every year, according to data from Euromonitor International.
January 30th, 2014
From: IowaWatchdog.org
By Paul Brennan
By Paul Brennan | Iowa Watchdog
DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Legislature’s first try at regulating e-cigarettes got off to an unusual start, as public health groups strongly opposed bills introduced to prevent the use of the devices by minors.
Their opposition is based on a desire to have e-cigarettes classified as tobacco products, even though the devices contain no tobacco.
The state’s only regulation regarding e-cigarettes now is an executive order issued by Gov. Terry Branstad banning their use by state employees on state property.
January 23rd, 2014
From: Forbes
By Gilbert Ross
Whatever became of urban sophistication, especially on matters scientific and technological? We lifelong city folk cultivated a nasty habit of looking down on the denizens of the “flyover” regions as hayseeds, believing the sun revolved around the earth.
Not any longer, thanks to the baseless, superstitious fear running amok in the big-city linchpins of New York, Los Angeles, and now Chicago. The source of this surprising revival of the need to burn witches? Electronic cigarettes.
