Carlsbad OKs e-cigarette ban. City says devices are toxic, lure youngsters to smoke.
CARLSBAD — The Carlsbad City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to ban electronic cigarettes in all places where ordinary smoking is prohibited, becoming the second local city to legislate against the increasingly popular devices.
Proponents of so-called “e-cigarettes” say they’re a cleaner and healthier alternative to tobacco cigarettes because users get nicotine without fire, ash, smoke or carbon monoxide. They also tout them as an effective tool to help smokers quit.
But Carlsbad city officials based their ban partly on a recent federal analysis that found vapors from e-cigarettes contain carcinogens, including nitrosamines and toxic chemicals such as diethylene glycol. The battery-powered devices look like cigarettes and heat up liquid nicotine solutions creating a vapor that users can inhale.
City officials said e-cigarettes can serve as a gateway to smoking conventional cigarettes for children, who are attracted to them because they come in a variety of colors and flavors such as cotton candy and root beer. “It’s a gateway device,” City Councilman Mark Packard said. “They’re clearly marketed to youth and children.”
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/dec/03/carlsbad-e-cigarettes-ban-nicotine-youth
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