Letter: Electronic cigs shouldn’t be included in ND Measure 4

Just a concerned person who believes it is unfair to tie electronic cigarettes in the public smoking ban in the voting session this year.

To start off, one must know the three basic ingredients in the electronic cigarette: Propylene glycol/vegetable glycerin/vegetable glycol (some of the most common food additives/fillers).

Nicotine is not just in tobacco, but in everyday food too — cauliflower, potato, tomatoes, eggplants and more.

There is flavoring in electronic cigarettes , just like all of your favorite food and drinks.

Now, does that sound a lot like food. Well it does to me! So are we saying we should ban cooking?

As of April 2010, The American Association of Public Health Physicians supports electronic cigarettes sales to adults, “because the possibility exists to save the lives of 4 million of the 8 million current adult American smokers who will otherwise die of a tobacco-related illness over the next twenty years.”

A study by researchers at the Boston University School of Public Health in 2010 concluded that electronic cigarettes were safer than real cigarettes and may aid in breaking the habit.

Researchers said that while further studies on electronic cigarettes were needed, “few, if any, chemicals at levels detected in electronic cigarettes raise serious health concerns.” Electronic cigarettes were found to be “much safer” than traditional tobacco ones, and had a level of toxicity similar to existing nicotine replacements.

In the report, the level of carcinogens in electronic cigarettes was found to be up to 1,000 times lower than regular cigarettes. It also said early evidence shows that electronic cigarettes may help people to stop smoking.

The results indicated that the level of nicotine in the electronic cigarette cartridges was not different from the concentration of nicotine found in nicotine patches.

John Britton, a lung specialist at the University of Nottingham, UK and chairman of the Royal College of Physicians Tobacco Advisory Group said “if the levels are as low as in nicotine replacement therapy, I don’t think there will be much of a problem.”

The study’s detailed quantitative analysis concluded that carcinogens and toxicants are present only below harmful levels. It concluded, “Based on the manufacturer’s information, the composition of the cartridge liquid is not hazardous to health, if used as intended.”

Brad Coleman, Dickinson

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