CASAA has just learned that the Beverly Hills City Council will be mounting a dangerous attack on vaping tomorrow night. The City Council will be considering passing two ordinances under their "emergency" powers.
Ordinance #1 would place a 45-day moratorium on the sale of e-cigarettes AND ban the sale of e-cigarettes within the city during that moratorium period (which could eventually be stretched to over a year). This would mean that retailers would be free to sell as many cigarettes as they like, but would be BANNED from selling e-cigarettes after a two week period.
Ordinance #2 would ban e-cigarette use in thousands of indoor and outdoor locations in Beverly Hills, perhaps even including future e-cigarette stores.
To pass these ordinances under the City Council's "emergency" powers, a vote of 4/5 of the Beverly Hills City Council is required. We need to delay these ordinances and the only way to do so is to have vapers send e-mails, and most importantly, show up, testify, and convince the council members that it would be inappropriate to pass these ordinances without putting them through the typical legislative process.
While we realize this is short notice, we are asking our members to attend tomorrow night's meeting and testify in opposition to these ordinances. The meeting on Tuesday, November 5th will start at 7 PM in Room 400 of the Beverly Hills City Council at 455 N. Rexford Drive in Beverly Hills.
Regardless of whether you can attend, please reach out to the Council members and encourage them to vote NO on both ordinances.
Urge Opposition to Beverly Hills' Attack on Smoke-Free Electronic Cigarettes
Fax: (310) 275-8159
You can use the email address MayorandCityCouncil@beverlyhills.org for all council members and the mayor. However the mayor and vice-mayor list individual emails, so we have included them in the comma delimited list above.
Mayor John Mirisch / jmirisch@beverlyhills.org
Vice-Mayor Lili Bosse / lbosse@beverlyhills.org
Councilmember Warren Brien, M.D.
Councilmember Julian Gold, M.D.
Councilmember Nancy Krasne
What to say to the members of the Beverly Hills City Council:
1. You are a California citizen and would like them to vote NO on both e-cigarette ordinances because restricting the sale and use of e-cigarettes to and by adults will have a negative impact on public health.
2. Tell your story on how switching to an e-cigarette has changed your life.
3. Explain how smoking bans are enacted to protect the public from the harm of secondhand smoke, but e-cigarettes have not been shown to cause harm to bystanders. In fact, all evidence to date shows that the low health risks associated with e-cigarettes is comparable to other smokeless nicotine products.
The low risks of e-cigarettes is supported by research done by Dr. Siegel of Boston University, Dr. Eissenberg of Virginia Commonwealth, Dr Maciej L Goniewicz of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Dr. Laugesen of Health New Zealand, Dr. Igor Burstyn of Drexel University, and by the fact that the FDA testing, in spite of its press statement, failed to find harmful levels of carcinogens or toxic levels of any chemical in the vapor.
For example, a study by the Roswell Park Center that was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that the levels of chemicals and toxicants in the vapor produced by 12 different e-cigarettes 9-450x less than in cigarette smoke. The authors noted that the trace levels of chemicals present were comparable to what is found in a FDA-approved nicotine inhaler.
Additionally, a comprehensive review by a Drexel University professor based on over 9,000 observations of e-cigarette liquid and vapor found "no apparent concern" for bystanders exposed to e-cigarette vapor, even under "worst case" assumptions about exposure.
4. Point out that banning the sale of smoke-free electronic cigarettes while allowing cigarettes to continue to be sold is a form of legislative malpractice.
5. Detail how electronic cigarette use is easy to distinguish from actual smoking. Although some e-cigarettes resemble real cigarettes, many do not. It is easy to tell when someone lights a cigarette, from the smell of smoke. E-cigarette vapor is practically odorless, and generally any detectable odor is not unpleasant and smells nothing like smoke. Additionally, e-cigarette users can decide whether to release any vapor ("discrete vaping"). With so little evidence of use, enforcing indoor use bans on electronic cigarettes would be nearly impossible.
6. Inform them that the ability to use electronic cigarettes in public spaces will actually improve public health by inspiring other smokers to switch. Surveys of thousands of users indicate that the majority of those who switch, completely replace tobacco cigarettes with the electronic cigarettes, reducing their health risks by 98-99%.
7. Tell them that by switching to a smokeless product, you have greatly reduced your health risks.
