New York : Vaping in public spaces remains illegal

Last Tuesday, a New York state appeals court rejected a petition to lift the current ban in relation to electronic cigarettes’ use in public places.

Diane Caruana

January 11, 2017

The plaintiffs were New York City C.L.A.S.H. (Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment) and Russell Wishtart, a vaping show radio host. Their argument was that Local Law 152 violates the so-called “one-subject rule” as it tackles both smoking and vaping, however amongst other things the court replied by pointing out that the plaintiffs’ argument “is based on a fundamental misapprehension of that rule.”

Local law 152

An article published on New York City Patch last week, pointed out that this had been a long battle which started in December of 2013 when the Michael Bloomberg who was NYC’s mayor at that time, signed this law which included the use of electronic devices to the smoking in public places ban. The aforementioned plaintiffs had appealed to have this law revoked, however in May 2013 the court ruled against their appeal and this decision was upheld last Tuesday.

“In essence the Smoke Free Air Act has one subject, which is smoke free air. Electronic cigarettes are a product that does not emit smoke.”Attorney Edward Paltzik

Attorney Edward Paltzik who represented C.L.A.S.H. and Wishtart told the New York law Journal, “In essence the Smoke Free Air Act has one subject, which is smoke free air. Electronic cigarettes are a product that does not emit smoke.”

Hostility fuelled by misinformation

Unfortunately such hostility towards electronic cigarettes has become the rule of the day in the US. Last August the FDA enforced it’s deeming rule which regulated e-cigarettes in the same way as their combustible counterparts, hence causing more confusion about the proven safer tobacco alternatives.

The CDC themselves have released data which found that vaping is leading to a decrease in smoking.

Additionally, last month Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released the infamous report saying that increased e-cigarette use amongst young people is a “major public health concern”, and urged lawmakers to implement even harsher regulations in relation to use amongst minors. Murthy, repeated the same tired argument of the gateway theory, a theory that has been disproved over and over again.

Change will become inevitable

Curiously the CDC themselves (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), have released data which found that vaping is leading to a decrease in smoking. This goes in line with findings in the UK, where the country is reporting the lowest number of smokers ever recorded after endorsing vaping products as smoking cessation aides. Unfortunately in the US, the sentiment about e-cigs for now remains unchanged. The hope is that with the data in favour becoming more and more irrefutable, a change in stance will eventually become inevitable.