This is a syndicated post, which originally appeared at CASAA. View original post.
According to a report in the Kitsap Sun, Kitsap County’s Public Health Board appears to be gearing up to ban e-cigarette use wherever smoking is banned. As stated by members of the Health Board, the ban would be so draconian that it would not even permit vaping in e-cigarette stores.
If you are from the Kitsap County area and could attend the hearing when it is scheduled, please e-mail us at board@casaa.org with the subject line “Kitsap County Testimony.” In the meantime, please attempt to make contact (phone calls and letters preferred to e-mails, but any communication is good communication) with all the members of the Public Health Board.
When Seattle-King County, Washington proposed banning e-cigarette usage in public places in 2010, very few vapers showed up to testify. The ban was passed. When Tacoma-Pierce County tried the same thing in 2011, well over 50 vapers attended and the issue garnered some significant local media attention. A far less harsh ‘compromise’ bill was then passed.
What will the response be like in 2013? We’re anticipating far more this time around. But before the hearing, civic engagement with members of the Public Health Board is needed
What to say:
1. You would like them to vote NO on any ordinance that would ban the use of smoke free electronic cigarettes wherever smoking is banned.
2. Tell your story on how switching to an e-cigarette has changed your life.
3. Explain how electronic cigarette use is easy to distinguish from actual smoking. Although some e-cigarettes resemble real cigarettes, many do not. It is easy to tell when someone lights a cigarette, from the smell of smoke. E-cigarette vapor is practically odorless, and generally any detectable odor is not unpleasant and smells nothing like smoke.
4. Refer them to the recent study, “Levels of selected carcinogens and toxicants in vapour from electronic cigarettes,” which was funded in part by the U.S. National Institute of Health. The study tested 12 different e-cigarettes, as well as a medicinal nicotine inhaler, and found that the levels of toxicants in the e-cigarette products were “9–450 times lower than in cigarette smoke and were, in many cases, comparable with trace amounts found in the reference product [nicotine inhaler].” This study, as well as others, show that there is no threat to bystanders from e-cigarette use.
5. If you are a Kitsap County resident and currently vape in public, talk your experience. Do businesses you frequent allow you to vape? What about your office?
6. Inform them that the ability to use electronic cigarettes in public spaces will actually improve public health by inspiring other smokers to switch. Surveys of thousands of users indicate that the majority of those who switch, completely replace tobacco cigarettes with the electronic cigarettes, reducing their health risks by 98-99%.
7. Tell them that by switching to a smokeless product, you have greatly reduced your health risks.
8. Direct them to the CASAA.org website for more information.
Members of the Kitsap County Public Health Board
Kitsap County residents are strongly encouraged to make one-on-one contact with the members of the Public Health Board. Please note that the Call to Action includes the names of the cities that these legislators represent.
Comma delimited list: mayor@ci.bremerton.wa.us, berickson@cityofpoulsbo.com, tmatthes@cityofportorchard.us, sblossom@bainbridgewa.gov, rgelder@co.kitsap.wa.us, cgarrido@co.kitsap.wa.us
Mayor Patty Lent (Mayor of Bremerton)
Norm Dicks Government Center
345 6th Street, Suite 600
Bremerton, WA 98337
Phone: (360) 473-5266
Fax: (360) 473-5883
mayor@ci.bremerton.wa.us
Mayor Becky Erickson (Mayor of Poulsbo)
City of Poulsbo
P.O. Box 98
Poulsbo, WA 98370
Phone: (360) 394 9700
berickson@cityofpoulsbo.com
Mayor Tim Mathes (Mayor of Port Orchard)
City of Port Orchard
216 Prospect Street
Port Orchard, WA 98366
Phone: (360) 876-4407
Fax: (360) 895-9029
tmatthes@cityofportorchard.us
Councilwoman Sarah Blossom (Bainbridge Island City Council)
280 Madison Avenue North
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
Phone: (206) 715-3204
sblossom@bainbridgewa.gov
Commissioner Josh Brown (Kitsap County Board of Commissioners)
(Silverdale, Tracyton, Seabeck, Illahee, Brownsville, Crosby, Holly, Rocky Point, majority of Bremerton)
Kitsap County Courthouse
614 Division Street, MS-4
Port Orchard, WA 98366
Phone: (360) 337-7146
Fax: (360) 337-4632jbrown@co.kitsap.wa.us [e-mail not working — please call or fax]
Commissioner Robert Gelder (Kitsap County Board of Commissioners)
(Poulsbo, Bainbridge Island, Bangor, Keyport, Kingston, Navy Yard City, Port Gamble)
Kitsap County Courthouse
614 Division Street, MS-4
Port Orchard, WA 98366
Phone: (360) 337-7146
Fax: (360) 337-4632
rgelder@co.kitsap.wa.us
Commissioner Charlotte Garrido (Kitsap County Board of Commissioners)
(Port Orchard, Bethel, Burley, Chico, Manchester, Parkwood)
Kitsap County Courthouse
614 Division Street, MS-4
Port Orchard, WA 98366
Phone: (360) 337-7146
Fax: (360) 337-4632
cgarrido@co.kitsap.wa.us
