The Fight in New York
CASAA legal director, Yolanda Villa, traveled to New York last week, along with representatives from other advocacy groups, to meet with representatives of the New York Senate Health Committee.
Ms. Villa reported back, "It was really apparent from our many meetings last week that the Senators and their staff know nothing about the electronic cigarette, and most dont even understand the actual effect of the bill they will be asked to vote on. Also, we were explicitly told that actual meetings will have much more impact than even mailed letters and phone calls.
So if you can meet with your Senator, bring your ecigs and liquid to show and explain how they function, and bring the most important of the letters, documents and studies that are available to contradict what they are being told by the bill proponents (the ALA, ACS, etc), that would be excellent."
"If anyone needs pointers to what to bring to such meetings, please just just contact me," Villa offered, "and I can send you links and/or the actual documents in pdf or doc form to print out and take along with you to your meetings."
CASAA continues to encourage ALL members to contact New York legislators and stress the importance of keeping e-cigarettes legal for adult smokers.
We encourage New York residents to CALL/WRITE rather than email.
Ever Vigilant
CASAA continues to watch the happenings in other U.S. states and around the world.
In Illinois, Midwest Vapers Group members of CASAA continue to watch for any movement after successfully postponing the vote on banning e-cigarettes in their state. Members traveled from Missouri and organized Illinois residents to speak before the Health Committee. The bill has died in committee, but CASAA remains on watch.
"I believe the legislature will meet briefly in November for a special session, but it's our understanding that it is extremely unlikely this bill will be considered then since that's primarily for budget matters and the like," said CASAA and Midwest Vapers Goup member, Julie W.
In Minnesota, Utah, Maryland, Arizona and New Hamphire bills were passed banning the sales of electronic cigarettes to minors, but leaving them available to adult smokers.
California also has a proposed bill, which has been amended to only ban sales to minors.
CASAA Fundraising
CASAA president Michal Douglas announced April 28th that CASAA was now able to receive donations through the CASAA.org website. Due to the nature of CASAA's advocacy and lobbying activities, donations are not legally allowed to be tax deductable, but the funds are invaluable to CASAA's mission to "ensure the availability of effective, affordable and reduced harm alternatives to smoking by increasing public awareness and education; to encourage the testing and development of products to achieve acceptable safety standards and reasonable regulation; and to promote the benefits of reduced harm alternatives."
President Douglas also announced that the new CASAA t-shirts will soon be available for sale.
Read more about donating here
CASAA E-Cigarette User Survey
CASAA's survey response has passed the goal of 1,500 respondents - now over 1,700!
Information collected from the survey is intended to support advocacy efforts by helping dispell myths and misconseptions about electronic cigarettes and their users. CASAA now has compelling evidence such as the typical age of e-cig users (73.5% are 30 - 59 years), whether fruit and candy flavors are targeting children (54.4% adults report they use flavors regularly), how many users quit smoking completely (77.7%) and the worst health effects of vaping (16.7% report occasional dry/sore throat.)
Follow the survey results here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/sr.aspx?sm=HrpzL8PN5cP366RWhWvCTjggiZM_2b8yQJHfwE9UXRNhE_3d
EcigsSaveLives.info Petition
CASAA is encouraging members to spread the word about the petition at http://EcigsSaveLives.info.
The petition is calling for groups such as the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association and the FDA to reverse their stance and stop trying to ban electonic cigarettes and calls for petitioners to discontinue donations and support of these groups.
Leaders of the target organizations will be sent hard copies of the petition and the signatures after the petition closes September 1, 2010. This date was chosen to fall before the oral argument in the case of Smoking Everywhere vs. FDA is held in the U.S. Court of Appeals that same month. The health organizations named on the petition have recently filed an Amicus Brief in the case, supporting the FDA's intent to remove e-cigarettes from the market.
CASAA wishes to remind members to be sure to check your spam folder if you do not receive the confirmation email from the petition site and to be sure to print out and mail a SIGNED copy of the petition to the mailing list provided on the petition.
Be sure to spread the word - the goal is at least 10,000 signatures by September - and watch for the upcoming Raffle For Awareness, sponsored by e-cigarette vendors!
AAPHP Petitions
The American Association of Public Health Physicians have come out in support of electronic cigarettes!
The AAPHP has submitted two official petitions to the FDA, one asking them to reconsider their position that electronic cigarettes are "drug delivery devices" and another calling for the FDA to follow up on their July 2009 press conference, which effectively misled the public into believing electronic cigarettes were a danger to the public.
Read about it here
The AAPHP is asking CASAA members and all vapers to submit their comments about their electronic cigarette experience on the FDA petition website.
Bill Godshall, director of Smokefree Pennsylvania and an ardent electronic cigarette supporter, offers the following advice on making petition comments:
Regional Representatives
The effectiveness of CASAA's efforts is directly linked to the participation of it's members!
CASAA needs members to step up in their city, state or country as regional representatives. See current list here.
Representatives are asked to simply watch their area for possible legislation against electronic cigarettes and report back to the board, spread the word about the devices and act as a contact in their area.
Multiple representatives of states, countries and larger metropolitan areas are encouraged. Currently, the following states have no representatives at all: Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachucetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Vermont and Wyoming. We also need more international reps for non-U.S. members.
If you would like to be a part of something this important, go to CASAAForum.org, sign up and apply to join the Regional Representative Group in your User Control Panel under "Usergroups." Be sure to list your state and region in your profile. A CASAA board member will change your status and add you to the Regional Representative list.
We encourage ALL CASAA members to be Regional Representatives for their area! If you haven't already, be sure to join CASAA at CASAA.org.
CASAA legal director, Yolanda Villa, traveled to New York last week, along with representatives from other advocacy groups, to meet with representatives of the New York Senate Health Committee.
Ms. Villa reported back, "It was really apparent from our many meetings last week that the Senators and their staff know nothing about the electronic cigarette, and most dont even understand the actual effect of the bill they will be asked to vote on. Also, we were explicitly told that actual meetings will have much more impact than even mailed letters and phone calls.
So if you can meet with your Senator, bring your ecigs and liquid to show and explain how they function, and bring the most important of the letters, documents and studies that are available to contradict what they are being told by the bill proponents (the ALA, ACS, etc), that would be excellent."
"If anyone needs pointers to what to bring to such meetings, please just just contact me," Villa offered, "and I can send you links and/or the actual documents in pdf or doc form to print out and take along with you to your meetings."
CASAA continues to encourage ALL members to contact New York legislators and stress the importance of keeping e-cigarettes legal for adult smokers.
We encourage New York residents to CALL/WRITE rather than email.
Ever Vigilant
CASAA continues to watch the happenings in other U.S. states and around the world.
In Illinois, Midwest Vapers Group members of CASAA continue to watch for any movement after successfully postponing the vote on banning e-cigarettes in their state. Members traveled from Missouri and organized Illinois residents to speak before the Health Committee. The bill has died in committee, but CASAA remains on watch.
"I believe the legislature will meet briefly in November for a special session, but it's our understanding that it is extremely unlikely this bill will be considered then since that's primarily for budget matters and the like," said CASAA and Midwest Vapers Goup member, Julie W.
In Minnesota, Utah, Maryland, Arizona and New Hamphire bills were passed banning the sales of electronic cigarettes to minors, but leaving them available to adult smokers.
California also has a proposed bill, which has been amended to only ban sales to minors.
CASAA Fundraising
CASAA president Michal Douglas announced April 28th that CASAA was now able to receive donations through the CASAA.org website. Due to the nature of CASAA's advocacy and lobbying activities, donations are not legally allowed to be tax deductable, but the funds are invaluable to CASAA's mission to "ensure the availability of effective, affordable and reduced harm alternatives to smoking by increasing public awareness and education; to encourage the testing and development of products to achieve acceptable safety standards and reasonable regulation; and to promote the benefits of reduced harm alternatives."
President Douglas also announced that the new CASAA t-shirts will soon be available for sale.
Read more about donating here
CASAA E-Cigarette User Survey
CASAA's survey response has passed the goal of 1,500 respondents - now over 1,700!
Information collected from the survey is intended to support advocacy efforts by helping dispell myths and misconseptions about electronic cigarettes and their users. CASAA now has compelling evidence such as the typical age of e-cig users (73.5% are 30 - 59 years), whether fruit and candy flavors are targeting children (54.4% adults report they use flavors regularly), how many users quit smoking completely (77.7%) and the worst health effects of vaping (16.7% report occasional dry/sore throat.)
Follow the survey results here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/sr.aspx?sm=HrpzL8PN5cP366RWhWvCTjggiZM_2b8yQJHfwE9UXRNhE_3d
EcigsSaveLives.info Petition
CASAA is encouraging members to spread the word about the petition at http://EcigsSaveLives.info.
The petition is calling for groups such as the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association and the FDA to reverse their stance and stop trying to ban electonic cigarettes and calls for petitioners to discontinue donations and support of these groups.
Leaders of the target organizations will be sent hard copies of the petition and the signatures after the petition closes September 1, 2010. This date was chosen to fall before the oral argument in the case of Smoking Everywhere vs. FDA is held in the U.S. Court of Appeals that same month. The health organizations named on the petition have recently filed an Amicus Brief in the case, supporting the FDA's intent to remove e-cigarettes from the market.
CASAA wishes to remind members to be sure to check your spam folder if you do not receive the confirmation email from the petition site and to be sure to print out and mail a SIGNED copy of the petition to the mailing list provided on the petition.
Be sure to spread the word - the goal is at least 10,000 signatures by September - and watch for the upcoming Raffle For Awareness, sponsored by e-cigarette vendors!
AAPHP Petitions
The American Association of Public Health Physicians have come out in support of electronic cigarettes!
The AAPHP has submitted two official petitions to the FDA, one asking them to reconsider their position that electronic cigarettes are "drug delivery devices" and another calling for the FDA to follow up on their July 2009 press conference, which effectively misled the public into believing electronic cigarettes were a danger to the public.
Read about it here
The AAPHP is asking CASAA members and all vapers to submit their comments about their electronic cigarette experience on the FDA petition website.
Bill Godshall, director of Smokefree Pennsylvania and an ardent electronic cigarette supporter, offers the following advice on making petition comments:
Regional Representatives
The effectiveness of CASAA's efforts is directly linked to the participation of it's members!
CASAA needs members to step up in their city, state or country as regional representatives. See current list here.
Representatives are asked to simply watch their area for possible legislation against electronic cigarettes and report back to the board, spread the word about the devices and act as a contact in their area.
Multiple representatives of states, countries and larger metropolitan areas are encouraged. Currently, the following states have no representatives at all: Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachucetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Vermont and Wyoming. We also need more international reps for non-U.S. members.
If you would like to be a part of something this important, go to CASAAForum.org, sign up and apply to join the Regional Representative Group in your User Control Panel under "Usergroups." Be sure to list your state and region in your profile. A CASAA board member will change your status and add you to the Regional Representative list.
We encourage ALL CASAA members to be Regional Representatives for their area! If you haven't already, be sure to join CASAA at CASAA.org.
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