What sounded like a good thing at first, has turned into a warning from health officials. Electronic or e-cigarettes are now thought to actually encourage smoking instead of help to stop the habit. The Town of Mammoth joined with many other cities in a vote to include e-cigarettes in the Town’s tobacco restriction ordinance. Where you can’t smoke, you can’t smoke e-cigarettes either.
Town Manager Dan Holler told the Council it would be a policy matter to include e-cigarettes along with tobacco product restrictions. Holler pointed to the opposing views on the electronic smokes – an aid to quit smoking or, as health officials say, a gateway product to smoking.
Nancy Mahannah of the Mono Health Department told the Council that there is “good community support for tobacco control.” She spelled out Mammoth’s history for banning smoking before state government did over the years. Mahannah also pointed out that Mammoth Mountain has said use of e-cigarettes where smoking is not allowed has been an “enforcement nightmare.”
Manager Holler said the staff did not have a recommendation but that the Town Attorney could easily add e-cigarettes to the Town ordinance. Mahannah also told the Council that the so-called vapor that comes out of e-cigarettes contains chemicals, including nicotine. She said they are not regulated by the FDA.
The day before the Town Council’s vote, the Los Angeles City Council had voted 14 to 0 to ban e-cigarettes. The Mammoth Council voted unanimously to bring back changes in the Town tobacco restriction ordinance to include e-cigarettes.
Benett….Just looked up the price of weed in Colorado….and it says as low as $50..,as high as $ 70.00,but usually $65.00…..FOR AN EIGHTH !…hardly the way that some seem to think legalization will take business away from the cartels,dealers and sellers on the street…If I walked out my front door… Read more »
Benett…I agree..those that occasionally use marijuana,or those that buy the 1/4 ounce increments for personal use shouldn’t be put in jail….The ones that ruin it for all are those that try to ,once again, push the buttons and/or abuse the drug….I’ve known…and know of guys that wake up in the… Read more »
I am not advocating the use of marijuana. I meant that the illegal status of pot has not stopped people from using it. Maybe it’s time to examine how legalization would change things – take the drugs out of the hands of cartels, dealers, sellers and into stores. I don’t… Read more »
Ken….O.K. ….So the state got a whole bunch of tax $$$$ from potheads buying weed….we’ll see how it turns out for the citizens in the long run…can’t see how a bunch of people going through their lives legally stoned is going to make things better or add anything to society.The… Read more »
I’m not sure why you see that, but let’s consider that there are plenty of people who smoke marijuana and can easily get it while it is now illegal. Legality will likely not increase numbers of users but will keep some people out of jail where they don’t belong and… Read more »
No doubt your assessment will be true for some. But those same people probably are already using and whatever their live is now is not a result of legalization. And everything you said is equally true about booze. I know people who are “functional alcoholics” who drink regularly and still… Read more »
Jeff B…..not this year..The supporters of legalizing weed are saying they ran out of $$$…and support… and are gonna wait untill 2016 to try again…now if your talking of the NEST election,kinda dangerous for anytype of bird to be smoking pot high up in a tree…..especially if they have little… Read more »
They couldn’t sell some pot to get the money?
…Ken…Wouldn’t that be kind of ironic….but my guess would be some were sitting around hoping and expecting OTHERS to be doing the footwork and using and donating OTHER’S money hoping for results…and seeing that just maybe not so many people are in favor of legalization as they thought…and after watching… Read more »
http://www.9news.com/story/news/local/2014/03/10/first-month-of-marijuana-taxes/6257687/ “DENVER—The first tax figures for the first state in the nation to legalize retail marijuana shows the drug brought in $3.5 million in taxes and fees in January. Of that, $2.1 million came from recreational marijuana and the remaining $1.4 million from medical marijuana. The figures from the state… Read more »
Hello, be sure to vote Yes for marijuana Legalization at the nest election 🙂
Just to be perfectly clear… I think e-cigs are lots better than regular cigs. I wouldn’t think it was OK to smoke an e-cig anywhere it would not be OK to smoke a regular cig. When I use tobacco it is either cigars, snuff, chew, or dip. I use once… Read more »
Ken Warner…..Only an idiot would try to push the buttons and think it’s O.K. to smoke E-cigs in “classrooms,restaurants and hospitals”….I never would,but I assume there are some out there that do,or think they can get away from it….and Mongo,not talking about heroin ….all I can do is speak for… Read more »
Yet I have seen customers and employees smoking in restaurants and grocery stores in other states. One of the most disgusting things I have seen in my adult life is someone stomping out a smoke on the shiny floor of a Winn Dixie supermarket in Charleston SC.
DT said… “One of the most disgusting things I have seen in my adult life is someone stomping out a smoke on the shiny floor of a Winn Dixie supermarket in Charleston SC.” Yea, I guess compared to a large scale solar array or windmill farm on a scenic byway… Read more »
Solar power, as opposed to most forms of thermal power, is a sign of great progress and not something i find the least bit offensive to look at. Stomping a smoke out on a clean supermarket floor is disgusting.
Desert Tortoise…..I find a cigarette butt stomped out anywhere to be disgusting….as I would seeing thousands of solar panels parked somewhere out in the wilderness.
Mongo, you sound more and more like a fossil fuel troll. The Owens Valley is a huge place. There’s plenty of room for a properly sited solar and wind generation stations.
DT you must be young, I had teachers smoking in the class room and it didn’t bother me a bit. Times are changing!
… yes, only an idiot — and we know there’s no idiots right?
I’m glad you are able to cut your smoking habit down. I’m for the use of e-cigs for that but don’t do it around me — please.
Addiction comes in many forms (shopping, eating, spending, drugs, social behavior, etc..).. Now if we could shake off the shackles of common perception we might get somewhere with this condition that is very much a factor in our society, we might have better understanding and not treat each other in… Read more »
An e-cig is just another way to deliver the same addictive substance a regular one does. Nicotine. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you are no longer addicted. You are, you just get your drug by a slightly different means.
If you have not personally used the e-cig, perhaps it is best not to pontificate on it.
BK
I personally have never pointed a loaded gun at my head and pulled the trigger. But I’m pretty sure what would happen. E-cigs are designed and promoted to be a nicotine delivery system. Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances available. More addictive than heroin. Why tap dance around… Read more »
Nicotine patches and gum help people quit. It’s not an all or nothing deal. I know. I used to smoke. Don’t any more.
BK
I’m for anything that makes you quit smoking. I suspect that some will simply use e-cigs as a substitute so they can smoke in places they can’t now smoke like classrooms, restaurants, hospitals. And the fumes coming off of an e-cig can’t be completely harmless or odor free. Nobody is… Read more »
I use tobacco about once a month.
Sometimes less.
Does that mean I could moderate Heroin successfully Wayne?
Whoops…
That was Ken, not Wayne..
Desert Tortoise….True ,to an extent.E-cigs do contain nicotine,if you want them to,but just like Doctors are saying,they DON’t include all the other toxins that regular cigarettes do.It’s not about “thinking your not addicted” to something….it’s about doing it a different way,much less harmful,and a lot less money spent….now,we’re gonna see… Read more »
True that Wayne, and I would add to what you said by saying what drives the market economy (market efficiency) is rarely good for social progress, as long as it keeps the flow of money circulating….
Taxes on cigarettes generate around $900 million per year for California out of a nearly $100 billion state budget and a state GDP of nearly $2 trillion. It is an insignificant amount in comparison.
Insignificant? Shoot that’s plenty enough to purchase several congressman in our current political platform..
Pretty sure tax money is not used to buy Congress. That money usually comes from the business community.
Well the money that we should be getting from those tax loopholes and subsidies to industries is used to buy congressman! I was just saying that the tax money (amount) is significant, but yeah I am not disagreeing with you, most money does come from the business community and the… Read more »
…I wonder if people can spike their e-cig “juice” with meth and cocaine and heroin? And will people keep using those plastic rods? They don’t look very cool — actually they look kind of silly. And what about e-pipes — e-bongs — e-cigars — e-alcohol? The threshold for perverting e-cigs… Read more »
Ken…I’ve heard on the news of someone that put weed in the plastic cartomizer (where the fluid is supposed to go) and the plastic part exploded…don’t know why,something to do with the heat from the batteries and not meant to burn inside the cylinder….You think the plastic rods look silly…..I’ve… Read more »
Ken, I’m pretty sure people will continue smoking something no matter how much you keep typing.
I’m sure you are right.
Yeah kinda like those that give blind faith to the drugs the FDA approves when really Opiates are still opiates… Oh is that too uncomfortable of a topic because of the obvious hypocrisy?
I guess the land of the free, turned out to be the land of Nancy Reagan.
People should have the right to kill themselves anyway they want. Just don’t make me smell it while you are trying. Smoking had to be regulated because smokers couldn’t regulate themselves. Smokers didn’t care — still don’t care — who else had to breathe their smoke. Remember how flying in… Read more »
Ken, remember how free we used to be? I don’t smoke but I hate all these public safety laws. P.S. I also think disco sucks!
Remember how few people there use to be? To get all these people to live in close proximity to one another without daily riots and gunfire (see any video of the Mid East) there has to be some guidelines. There didn’t used to be white lines in the street either.… Read more »
O.K. Ken, I have to some what agree with you that smoking around other people is not polite, but they are using these public safety laws to go way to far on some public safety laws in my opinion. I still can’t believe I have no free speech rights in… Read more »
Trouble, yes clearly there are some over reaching laws and regulations. BTW: the 16oz soda law in N.Y. has been repealed. And sending 18 year olds to fight wars is just awful no matter how you look at it. There have been studies that show talking on a cell phone… Read more »
At age 62, I have been a smoker since 6th grade. It was a part of our culture. Since my aunt’s passing in 2003, due to lung cancer caused by her smoking, I tried hard to quit. Nicotine gum helped me cut down but any kind of stress and I… Read more »
I have friends who smoke e-cigs, the odor is pleasant compared to conventional cigs. Besides, what is the advantage vs the cost of the council restriction? Costs; Reduced merchant tourism revenue and draw. Reduced state tax income from sales. Unfriendly inconvenience to tourism. May promote switching to regular cigs by… Read more »
What’s next? Chewing gum, candy , soda or maybe we should ban all these people that sound like my mother from running this country.
“Electronic or e-cigarettes are now thought to actually encourage smoking instead of help to stop the habit.” Thought by whom? It’s very telling that no corroboration is offered for this statement. In point of fact, there was one study published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which… Read more »