County wants to ban public e-cigarette smoking (King Co; WA State)

The Seattle P.I. ^ | December 13, 2010 | VANESSA HO

[Stoat]

Five years after Washington residents voted to ban smoking cigarettes, cigars and pipes in public places, King County wants to add one more thing to the list: Electronic cigarettes.

The 2006 state law banned smoking in bars and restaurants on the basis that second-hand smoke causes cancer and other diseases. King County's rationale for adding e-cigarettes, also known as battery-powered nicotine-delivery devices, to the list of forbidden acts is a little different.

The fake cigs, from which users inhale vaporized nicotine, don't emit smoke. Rather, they produce a less-smelly, combustion-free mist.

But public health officials say they're so similar to the real thing that they make tobacco enforcement difficult and often prompt smokers to think it's OK to light up in public. And that leads to second-hand smoke, health officials reason.

"The idea is that even though they're not exactly identical to cigarettes, people see folks using e-cigarettes, and they think somebody else is smoking," said Bud Nicola, a King County Board of Health member and affiliate professor with the University of Washington School of Public Health. "It makes it very difficult for inspectors."

[cherry]

they can’t fix their budget and they can’t fix the traffic and God only knows how long the Aurora bridge will NOT be fixed or replaced but gosh darn, they got all the time in the world to ban a perfectly wonderful replacement for actual smoking....damn statists!

[MaxMax]

How long until the mere mentioning of the word Cigarette lands you in jail from the smoke nazi’s?

[SpaceBar]

It’s only a matter of time before we hear about a school kid suspended or worse for drawing a cigarette. The e-cig law proposal just proves it has nothing to do with public health, it’s orwellian thought control plain and simple.

[bigbob]

I predict they will determine these are drug deliver devices (which is in fact accurate), require licensing and testing to ensure safety, etc., and then tax the crap out of them.

[SpaceBar]

required reading...

The Phony Tobacco War

[Psycho_Bunny]

The adult population of Seattle is comprised almost entirely of children.

[Stoat]

 

How long until the mere mentioning of the word Cigarette lands you in jail from the smoke nazi’s?

***********************************************

It’s only a matter of time before we hear about a school kid suspended or worse for drawing a cigarette.

 

Indeed, and how long before a child drawing a crayon picture of a person smoking a cigarette causes him or her to be suspended from school?

It's not as though there's no precedent.  Children have felt the iron bootheel of the Left on their necks for drawing pictures of soldiers with guns while in school, and then there's this Free Republic thread from 2005 which may be of interest:

 

Hell is other people removing your cigarette (Sartre photo airbrushed to comply with French law)

How long until the mere mentioning of the word Cigarette lands you in jail from the smoke nazi’s?

[patriot preacher]

It poses no health hazard. TOUGH.

[Drew68]

I predict they will determine these are drug deliver devices (which is in fact accurate), require licensing and testing to ensure safety, etc., and then tax the crap out of them.

What I predict is that the FDA will ban e-cigs until further testing can be done regarding potential health dangers. And then these tests will never get done.

See, the government doesn't actually want people to quit smoking. They've crunched the numbers, done the math and discovered the wonderful thing about smoking is that smokers pay a windfall in tax revenue and then die at roughly the retirement age saving untold billions in future health care, pensions and social security. It's a win-win!

[jjsheridan5]

I predict they will determine these are drug deliver devices (which is in fact accurate), require licensing and testing to ensure safety, etc., and then tax the crap out of them.

It's not quite that simple. First, they aren't really drug delivery devices. Many people use them at zero nicotine. I doubt many people use crack pipes with zero crack.

Secondly, if nicotine is a drug, then so too is caffeine, comparable in terms of potential side effects. Is a coffee cup a drug delivery device? How about a coffee maker?

But the final problem they would have is the practical one of enforcement. It would make the drug war look like a logistical walk in the park. And doctors would be very much on our side. Because unlike real drugs, the potential effects of non-cigarette delivered nicotine are negligible.

The pharmas and the government looters are fighting a losing battle here.

[Last Dakotan]

"It makes it very difficult for inspectors."

So making life easier for inspectors is now grounds for discontinuing our rights?

[Rembrandt]

“..banning something because it might incite someone to do something that is banned.”

Next, they’ll want to ban brownies.

[crazyhorse691]

and smokeless tobacco is banned as well

---

I haven't flown since 2002 and didn't have any problem with my chaw...the inspectors seemed more interested in my socks and my briefcase with the maps of the US.

[Stoat]

"It makes it very difficult for inspectors."

So making life easier for inspectors is now grounds for discontinuing our rights?

 

"ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS"
- George Orwell, Animal Farm, Ch. 10

 

"It makes it very difficult for inspectors."

So making life easier for inspectors is now grounds for discontinuing our rights?

[Iron Munro]

“It has been well said that really up-to-date liberals do not care what people do, as long as it is compulsory.”

— George Will

[djf]

I’ll be very happy to go out in my front yard, smoke my brains out, point North and laugh my a** off!

Being about 1/2 mile as the crow flies SOUTH OF THE KING COUNTY LINE!!

Hey, whether they pass it or not, think I’ll do that tomorrow anyways! You know, just for the heck of it!

Man, am I glad I got outa that place...

[2ndDivisionVet]

So if I’m drinking a Dr. Pepper in the open and someone sees me and thinks it’s okay to drink whiskey in public, I should be banned from soft drinks?

[microgood]

I think they are just trying to outstupid San Francisco. I think they may be making some headway but with McGinn at the helm it will crash and burn. And after the humiliation of the grocery bag repeal, this is really going to hurt.

[blondee123]

Yep...it's not about second-hand smoke...it's about control. The TSA won't let you take an e-cig on a plane, and smokeless tobacco is banned as well.

Really, when did they start this, cause I bought my e-cigs in Florida & brought them home on the plane in August of this year!

[Prince of Space]

I saw my first e-cig over the weekend as my son started smoking them recently. There's absolutely no way anyone could think someone was smoking a real cigarette when they are using these things. They're strange-looking in the first place - my son's were black and really thin, like a "tiparillo" - and the "lit" side glowed but not like a real cigarette. It was very apparent that he wasn't smoking a normal cigarette!

Mrs. Prince of Space