In 1991, a “smokers bill of rights” was established that essentially bars discrimination against smokers in hiring practices.
You can almost see the same establishment of rights coming from those tobacco users who have switched to the battery-powered devices known as e-cigarettes. There is currently sentiment floating around the Indiana General Assembly that would ban e-cigarettes from areas when the state’s current smoking ban is enforced.
So for most purposes, e-cigarettes are being likened in certain aspects to tobacco. Many Hoosiers would agree with the comparison.
Electronic cigarettes deliver inhalable doses of nicotine though a vaporized solution. People who violate the law — by smoking within 8 feet of a workplace or state vehicles, for example, would pay fines that feed into general funds.
Currently, a House bill proposes the addition of electronic cigarettes to the definition of “smoking” that prohibits smoking in certain public spots.
Another bill would impose a tax on electronic cigarettes.
Research on e-cigarettes — smoking them is known as “vaping — lags behind their popularity. The long-term effects are unknown. There is no smoke coming from e-cigarettes but the nicotine inside the cartridges is addictive.
A recent study found that the vapor could increase a child’s risk of respiratory infections. Reports of that study were accompanied by statistics that nearly 1.8 million children and teens in the United States had tried e-cigarettes by 2012. Less than 2 percent of American adults had tried e-cigarettes in 2010, but by last year the number had topped 40 million, an increase of 620 percent.
There are health risks associated with e-cigarettes.
For that reason, it would be wise for Indiana to regulate electronic cigarettes as it does with similar tobacco products. When laws and local restrictions are set in place for tobacco use then definitions need to include e-cigarettes.
More importantly, families and friends of those who inhale vapors from electronic cigarettes need to remind users that, even though studies aren’t definitive, there could be health problems associated with vaping.