The El Cajon City Council is expected to discuss an ordinance that would, among other things, ban the sale of flavored vapor products. This ordinance will likely be discussed during the council’s regularly scheduled meeting on
Under normal circumstances this new ordinance might take two months to work its way through the process. But these are challenging times and lawmakers are gripped with panic about lung injuries. As a consequence, elected officials are being pressured to issue EMERGENCY actions that are hastily banning products not linked to the lung injuries.
Please make plans to attend this meeting. Even if you do not plan to speak your presence is important. If you would like to speak on the ordinance, please see our talking points below to help develop you comments and other messages to city council members.
Points to include in your emails, phone calls, and spoken comments:
Send a message to council members by phone and by using their contact forms here.
I am writing as a voter and taxpayer in El Cajon urging you to resist calls from well-meaning but misinformed activists to enact policies that would ban flavored, smoke-free alternatives to combustible tobacco. A productive path forward must include adequate representation from all stakeholders - especially nicotine consumers.
Legitimate, regulated businesses play a vital role in ensuring that consumers have legal access to well-made products and keeping adult products out of the hands of young people. If these products are pushed into an underground market--where there is no oversight or motivation to comply with sales age restrictions--purchasing and consuming nicotine will be unnecessarily dangerous.
The recent outbreak of lung illnesses being broadly attributed to "vaping" by the CDC is a direct result of overbearing drug policy that encourages products to be made and sold by an underground, unregulated industry. Pushing currently legal nicotine products into such an environment might have similar results--including puting all consumers at greater risk.
I along with my fellow members of Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA) thank you for considering my comments on this issue. Please keep me informed of developments in this matter. I look forward to your response on this issue and I am available for any questions you might have.
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
3:00 PM
Council Chamber
200 Civic Center Way
El Cajon, CA 92020
3:00 PM
Council Chamber
200 Civic Center Way
El Cajon, CA 92020
Under normal circumstances this new ordinance might take two months to work its way through the process. But these are challenging times and lawmakers are gripped with panic about lung injuries. As a consequence, elected officials are being pressured to issue EMERGENCY actions that are hastily banning products not linked to the lung injuries.
Please make plans to attend this meeting. Even if you do not plan to speak your presence is important. If you would like to speak on the ordinance, please see our talking points below to help develop you comments and other messages to city council members.
Points to include in your emails, phone calls, and spoken comments:
- Briefly, share your story about switching to vaping and what role that flavors played in helping you switch.
- Note any health changes you’ve experienced.
- Briefly, discuss what losing access to local vape shops will mean for you (Will you shop out-of-state, in neighboring cities, or online? Will you make your own e-liquid at home or purchase products on an underground market?).
- Additional talking points for testimony and emails are available here.
Send a message to council members by phone and by using their contact forms here.
- Sample message you can copy/paste into email forms:
- (Please include your personal story about switching to vaping)
I am writing as a voter and taxpayer in El Cajon urging you to resist calls from well-meaning but misinformed activists to enact policies that would ban flavored, smoke-free alternatives to combustible tobacco. A productive path forward must include adequate representation from all stakeholders - especially nicotine consumers.
Legitimate, regulated businesses play a vital role in ensuring that consumers have legal access to well-made products and keeping adult products out of the hands of young people. If these products are pushed into an underground market--where there is no oversight or motivation to comply with sales age restrictions--purchasing and consuming nicotine will be unnecessarily dangerous.
The recent outbreak of lung illnesses being broadly attributed to "vaping" by the CDC is a direct result of overbearing drug policy that encourages products to be made and sold by an underground, unregulated industry. Pushing currently legal nicotine products into such an environment might have similar results--including puting all consumers at greater risk.
I along with my fellow members of Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA) thank you for considering my comments on this issue. Please keep me informed of developments in this matter. I look forward to your response on this issue and I am available for any questions you might have.
- October 8 Agenda - .pdf
