E-Cigarettes face potential ban in California

A new bill in California is proposing to ban the use of electronic cigarettes in public areas and increase enforcement against stores who sell e-cigarettes to minors.

San Francisco Senator Mark Leno wants to regulate electronic cigarettes in the same way that we regulate all traditional tobacco products.

"No tobacco product should be exempt from California's smoke-free laws simply because it's sold in a modern or trendy disguise," Leno said, according to the Associated Press. "Addiction is what is really being sold. Like traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes deliver nicotine in a cloud of other toxic chemicals, and their use should be restricted equally under state law in order to protect public health."

However, the bill faces strong criticism by a group calling itself the American Vaping Association. According to the association, the ban would harm smokers who are trying to quit by switching to e-cigarettes as they are considered to be a safer alternative to the normal cigarettes.

American Vaping Associated president Gregory Conley referred to a recent study, stating that the researchers manipulated the terms to achieve inflated results: "They dramatically overheated the vapor products and didn't bother to talk to real e-cigarette users."

"What they can't dispute is all throughout California, vapor products are fulfilling their goal of helping people quit. It's a completely irresponsible message to send to smokers. These are people that need truthful and accurate information about low-risk, smoke-free alternatives that could make them a non-smoker."

"California smokers deserve truthful information about smoke-free alternatives, not hype and conjecture designed to scare them away from attempting to quit with these innovative technology products," said Conley.