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Legislator of ephedra ban fame goes after e-cigarettes
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| | | Legislator Cooper with a sample of the product whose sale he seeks to ban in Suffolk County. Courtesy Cooper’s office (click for larger version) | |
May 13, 2009 | 03:45 PM
The Suffolk County Legislature is considering a proposal by Legislator Jon Cooper (D-Lloyd Neck) to ban the sale of electronic cigarettes, which would be the first legislation of its kind in the country.
Commonly known as e-cigarettes, electronic cigarettes resemble the real thing but contain a device that delivers vaporized liquid nicotine without tobacco.
"When you attach the cartridge to the delivery device and inhale ... the tip lights up, the electronic system heats the nicotine in the cartridge, which vaporizes it," Cooper said. "The tip glows red, sort of like a real cigarette. ... You're inhaling pure nicotine."
Cautioning that e-cigarettes are being marketed in cherry, chocolate, grape and other palatable flavors, Cooper said he fears that children will get addicted to them and graduate to the real thing.
E-cigarettes are sold in kiosks and are also widely sold through Internet websites. Because there is no tobacco, there are no age restrictions for them.
"Everything that's on the books right now regulates tobacco-based products … " Cooper said. "So there are no regulations on any level of government whatsoever. Right now if you're 15, 13, legally there's nothing to stop you from buying this stuff."
The legislator, who was behind the country's first ban on sales of the athletic performance drug ephedra, said that e-cigs should first pass muster with the Federal Drug Administration. "Until the FDA declares it's safe, you shouldn't be allowed to sell it. It shouldn't be that you sell it until the FDA says it kills you."
Cooper aims for laws to prohibit e-cigarette sales until the regulating agency acts.
"It's like an iPod that can kill you," he said. "It's the sort of thing that, because it is new, it is novel, it's high-tech and it comes in all these flavors that make it more attractive to kids, this is going to be seen as the new in-thing for young smokers."
The Florida-based Smoking Everywhere, one of the largest distributors of e-cigarettes in the U.S., claims on its website to "have a vision of helping to create a smoke-free environment around the world by offering clean smoking without tobacco, tar and the thousands of other chemicals found in traditional cigarettes."
E-cigarettes deliver high concentrations of nicotine, which is highly addictive because it causes the release of the "feel-good" chemical dopamine when it goes to the brain. It also increases heart rate and blood pressure and restricts blood to the heart muscle.
Amy Henes, communications director for The American Lung Association of New York, said her organization has not yet taken a position on legislating the sale of e-cigarettes.
Cooper closed the hearing on the e-cigarette ban at Tuesday's meeting at the Suffolk County Legislature and plans to put the bill up for a vote on June 9.
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