While the effort to reduce secondhand smoke inhalation from combustible cigarettes is noble, vapor produced from e-cigarettes does not contain the harmful tar and chemicals found in combustible cigarettes. It does not create the same degree of harm.
MONTGOMERY, AL — This spring, Alabama state lawmakers passed a bill (HB3) that is now in effect, prohibiting the use of cigarettes and vaping products in vehicles when a child 14 years of age or younger is present.
Elizabeth Hicks, US Affairs Analyst with the consumer advocacy group Consumer Choice Center, said of HB3, “Legislation like this further demonstrates how regulators view vaping and smoking as the same, when in reality, numerous studies have shown vaping to be 95% less harmful. While the effort to reduce secondhand smoke inhalation from combustible cigarettes is noble, vapor produced from e-cigarettes does not contain the harmful tar and chemicals found in combustible cigarettes. It does not create the same degree of harm.
“Treating vaping like cigarettes hampers public health by deterring smokers from adopting a less harmful nicotine option. With 8,600 annual smoking-related deaths in Alabama, regulators should view vaping as a harm reduction tool rather than regulating it as cigarettes,” added Hicks.
“By accepting vaping as a harm reduction tool in Alabama, the state could cut cigarette-related deaths and ease the annual $309 million Medicaid burden from smoking illnesses. It’s time for evidence-based policies, not performative politics, in the Heart of Dixie,” said Hicks.
The CCC represents consumers in over 100 countries across the globe. We closely monitor regulatory trends in Ottawa, Washington, Brussels, Geneva and other hotspots of regulation and inform and activate consumers to fight for #ConsumerChoice. Learn more at consumerchoicecenter.org.
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