*URGENT* CALL TO ACTION! Canton, MA Ordinance to BAN E-Cigarette Sales (Hearing August 12th!)

[sonicdsl]

Call to Action! Canton, MA Ordinance to BAN E-Cigarette Sales (Hearing August 12th!)

Canton, Massachusetts: Ordinance Would Ban E-Cigarette Sales in the City

Proposed Ordinance | Board of Health Website

If enacted, this ordinance would:

• Make Canton, MA the first and only city to prohibit the sale of all modern smoke-free products -- including e-cigarettes, dissolvable tobacco and any other non-pharmaceutical nicotine product -- to adults. The ordinance may also ban the sale of snus.
• Specifically exempts the most hazardous tobacco products (cigarettes and other smoked tobacco products). The sale of a few smoke-free products would be permitted, but these (chewing tobacco and loose snuff) are not the harm-reduction products that smokers choose to switch to.
• Raises the age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21, but still bans these adults from purchasing e-cigarettes and other less hazardous products.

The Canton Board of Health in Canton, Massachusetts is currently considering an ordinance that would forever ban the sale of electronic cigarettes in the city, all while allowing cigarettes to continue to be sold. The Board of Health will consider the ordinance on Monday, August 12, 2013 at 7pm at the Canton Town Hall in the Salah Meeting Room at 801 Washington Street in Canton.

CASAA Director Karen Carey will be in attendance. If you are in the area and could attend and possibly speak, please e-mail CASAA at board@casaa.org.

Enactment of this ordinance would protect cigarette markets at the expense of smokers' health. Vapers from across the United States are encouraged to tell their story. Please see below on how to oppose this ordinance.
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What to say:

1. Let them know that you strongly oppose banning all sales of electronic cigarettes and other modern tobacco products, but that you would support such a ban on sales to minors.

2. Tell your story on how switching from smoking cigarettes to a far less hazardous alternative product has changed your life. When and why did you start using an e-cigarette? What effect has this had on your smoking of tobacco cigarettes? What has been the effect on your health?

3. Explain that research has consistently shown that virtually all e-cigarette users are using them as a substitute for smoking. The vast majority tried to quit smoking multiple times, using the other methods available and failed.

4. Tell them that there are thousands of e-cigarette users in Massachusetts who have benefited from the availability of e-cigarettes.

5. Direct them to the CASAA.org website and research library for more information.
____________________________________

CASAA is urging its members to contact Canton, MA's Director of Public Health (who will distribute your comments to the Board of Health members). Please try to get your testimony in before 4:00 PM Eastern on Friday, August 9th.

John L. Ciccotelli, R.S., C.H.O.
Public Health Director -- Canton, Massachusetts
Phone: (781) 821-5021
E-mail: jciccotelli@town.canton.ma.us

 

[mad maori]

wow- what the heck are these people on?- thats some stupid law suggestion!!!

 

[DanSilver]

Letter sent.

 

[sonicdsl]

3 days left to get your comments in on this one!

 

[lrt73]

Letter sent...I use to live in Canton...I'm surprised they would be the first to try this...it would seem to me that they would have other items on their agenda to deal with than bothering with this...I will never understand government.

 

[DanSilver]

I recieved a reply from Mr Ciccotelli:

Thank-you for your valuable comments on Canton’s proposed regulation and on the nicotine smokeless devices and e-cigarettes. The Board of Health is carefully considering comments like yours before they vote on this issue at the public hearing. I will ensure the Canton Board of Health receives a copy of your comments before the hearing on the Regulation on August 12th. And congratulations on your quitting smoking.

Sincerely,
John Ciccotelli

 

[renderwerks]

I wrote an email as well and got a response. My email:

Dear Sir,

In reference to the proposed ban on these devices.

I quit cigarettes over four years ago with the e-cig. I was a two pack a day smoker for 35 years. I lost my desire for cigarettes with the help of my e-cig after only three days. I believe it to be the biggest accomplishment of my life as I had resigned myself to a horrible death from smoking (before finding the e-cig) as my father did with lung cancer. The addiction is that bad.

A study just released by Professor Igor Burstyn, Drexel University School of Public Health, confirms that chemicals in electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) pose no health concern for users or bystanders. This is the first definitive study of e-cigarette chemistry, and finds that there are no health concerns based on generally accepted exposure limits.

As a Mechanical Designer with twenty years of experience, I know better than to voice my opinion (or worse) without quantifying my statements or actions. To do so would damage my reputation as a man who speaks from experience, education and research.

Along those lines - my doctor has seen a marked improvement in several areas of my health since my switch:

•My heart rate has dropped
•My blood pressure has dropped
•My lung capacity has improved by a double digit percentage

Those are just the main three - I could probably come up with a dozen or more improvements I've experienced.

I urge you to visit casaa.org and do a little research; they have a treasure trove of verifiable info and research results.

It seems easy to see the danger to the tobacco and pharmaceutical companies posed by these devices. The tobacco companies have lost over a million customers to e-cigs. Not how they are used to losing customers - they usually kill them with their product. I'm sure there are also heated emotions in pharmaceutical board rooms across the nation about a similar loss of customers. So much for their single digit success rates after 12 months. Most return to smoking. Great for the tobacco and pharma companies. They keep their customers, usually until a premature death.

Why would we take away a harm reduction product from smokers? Especially one that appears to have a HUGE success rate. Some estimates are over 80% success after two years! I'm a perfect example of one success story.

Should we remove airbags from cars because they might be harmful to children in the car? Of course not - that's ridiculous... I'm sure we can say they do far more good than damage - without having to cite research that says so.

Thank you for your time,

Rick Hageman

And the response:

Dear Mr. Hageman,



Thank-you for your valuable comments on Canton’s proposed regulation and on the nicotine smokeless devices. I will ensure the Canton Board of Health receives a copy of your comments before the hearing on the Regulation on August 12th. Based on the comments from e-smokers who have used these products to quit, the Board is still open to revising its complete ban. There is expected to be more dialogue during the Board of Health’s deliberations, both pro and con. We do expect a lively discussion at the hearing, though. And good luck with your efforts in avoiding tobacco products.



Again, thank-you for your input.



Sincerely,

John Ciccotelli

My son volunteers for our local Congressman - I mentioned all the emails Mr. Ciccotelli must be getting about this. He said "sounds like what I do, kinda". He said that correspondence from outside their district is usually just quickly scanned over and recorded - usually not even considered. If they get a lot of talk about a certain issue - then the Congressman is notified about it. He said it was likely the responses are coming from aides like him. He said to look for similarities in the responses. At his volunteer work, if they are getting enough "noise" about an issue, the aides develop a handful of responses which basically say the same thing, but appear to be individually written. Judging from the copy/paste responses, we may be getting the same thing. But he mentioned that the speed of the response seems to indicate the Congressman is quite aware of our voice. Lets hope we're loud enough.

 

[BillyRayBob]

I'm confused about this meeting.

Their calendar shows a Board of Health meeting on August 5, but nothing for today August 12. Is this not open to the public?

Szot was kind enough to call their office and confirmed the meeting is tonight!

I had written an email, but no response as of yet. Hopefully it got through if it actually does make a difference . Just re-read it and don't think there's anything terribly inappropriate in there. I tend to overthink my communications at time.

Dear Mr. Ciccotelli,

It has been brought to my attention that Canton is considering a ban on electronic cigarette products. I currently reside in Wayland, MA, and would like to briefly share my experience with you in the hope that it may inform the upcoming discussions on the matter.

I smoked for 20 years. I tried quitting cold turkey, but it never seemed to be the right time to abandon my ability to focus, or to risk the withdrawal related mood swings in social situations that demanded a modicum of grace. After 20 years, depriving the nicotine receptors in my brain entirely, and suddenly, was not going to work.

I tried using Nicorette gum. It never alleviated any cravings or withdrawal symptoms. It had no psychological correlation to smoking. It only left me with the same tribulations as quitting cold turkey but now adding a sore throat from the gum. It was not going to work.

I tried using the patch. I was able to maintain my ability to focus with some success. However, it left me experiencing cold sweats on a regular basis. I was also very concerned that relapses do happen when one is fighting an addiction, and smoking a cigarette in temporal proximity to wearing the patch can lead to cardiac complications. The fear of that happening was one of the primary reasons this was not going to work.

After a discussion with my doctor regarding my growing difficulty taking a deep breath, my increasing fatigue and lethargy, and what essentially boiled down to hypoxia from all the carbon monoxide in the cigarettes I was smoking, my doctor and I agreed perhaps trying an electronic cigarette might help.

I was skeptical but willing to try. In the last six weeks, thanks to using electronic cigarettes, I have not had a carbon monoxide cigarette.

Using the electronic cigarette is allowing me to gradually reduce the amount of nicotine I take. I began with a 2.4% solution and after only a few weeks, I have already reduced that to a 1.8% solution. I am looking forward to reducing that further to 1.2% and then a satisfying 0.0%.

The reason the electronic cigarette is working is two-fold. It allows me to stop exposing myself to the carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, fiber class filaments, tar, sugar, etc. present in the regular cigarettes found on every gas station shelf. The liquid I use contains none of these chemicals. It is made by a small, family-owned company in Hartland, Wisconsin, using ingredients sourced exclusively in the United States. There is nothing particularly sinister about this product. Secondly, using an e-cigarette has the psychological familiarity of a regular cigarette. It allows me to focus on defeating the nicotine addiction without having to confront the loss of a habit I have had for 20 years. That habit is already fading in its own natural time as my addiction to nicotine subsides.

I believe it would be a disservice to the citizens of Canton for e-cigarette products to be banned. Overcoming an addiction should not have the added barrier of making a potential solution inaccessible. I believe it would not be a good precedent to set. I would not be on the road to recovery today were it not for the availability and accessibility of what is empirically proving to be an efficacious solution.



Thank you so much for your time and consideration,

Sincerely,