E-Cigarette Ban Being Planned in Oklahoma; Representative Believes it's 'More Dangerous Than Secondhand Smoke'

Smoking is dangerous to one's health. Many can't turn their back from completely ignoring the joy of puffing smokes, so e-cigarettes were invented. However, e-cigarettes might be a taboo soon with the e-cigarette ban being in the works.

According to Muskogee Phoenix, the elected leaders in the county is planning to revisit in January the proposal that prohibits the use of e-cigarettes and other vaping products on the city property. The said issue was rejected for about nine months already.

The leaders come up to the said decision after a representative from the Muskogee Wellness Initiative made an impassioned plea to restrict the use of the said products which he believes is "more dangerous than second-hand smoke."

Dr. James Baker was joined by three students at the podium and cited a recent study that found some liquid use in vaping devices contained chemicals used in artificial food flavoring. The said chemicals were found to be health hazards in industrial settings.

Baker referenced an article from Environmental Health Perspectives about a study designed "to determine if the flavoring chemical diacetyl and two other high-priority flavoring chemicals are present in flavored e-cigarettes." The usage of those chemicals made headlines in the early part of the century when it was reported that workers exposed to fume of those chemicals developed respiratory illnesses.

The study stressed that the said chemicals were present in most of the limited number of samples tested. They drew up conclusions about the safety risks but concluded that "urgent action is recommended to further evaluate the extent of this new exposure to diacetyl and related flavoring compounds in e-cigarettes."

Baker stated that he finds the said study, which is funded by the National Institute of Health grant, "a game-changer." He said he believes that it should be presented to city councilors.

"Who knows what they could put in there, I mean any juicer or anybody involved in the vaping sales could put any number of products in there," Baker said. "Without FDA (Food and Drug Administration) monitoring ... all of that could be exposed to children and lead to a much greater problem and epidemic than we have ever realized - at least with cigarettes we know what is going in there."

However, Sean Gore, former chairman of the Oklahoma Vapor Advocacy League, thinks Baker is just overthinking. Gore described Baker's comments as "an over-embellishment." However, he agreed that e-cigarette should be regulated.

Meanwhile, e-cigarette ban is also being considered in Napa County. Napa Valley Register reported that supervisor wanted e-cigarettes to be added to the definition of smoking products in the code.

"E-cigarettes are a threat in public health efforts to decrease nicotine use throughout the population," county Public Health Officer Karen Relucio told the supervisors.

Do you agree in banning e-cigarettes in your county? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.