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, Mono Health, Health Promotion Division Manager
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.
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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 right now,I could be back in less than 30 minutes….walking….with an eighth of pot for no more than $40.00.I have to believe if I could do that in a little town of 2,000,people in Colorado could probably do the same thing….Can’t really understand why the pot stores in Colorado are selling as much as they seem to be.If I were in the “business”,I’d be preying for marijuana to be legal….continue to sell,undercut the prices of the marijuana stores,and be driving a 2014 GMC Sierra in about a month….paid in full.
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 morning and are puffing on a joint before they brush their teeth…think it’s O.K. to drive while stoned,putting all in danger that happen to be on the highway…Remember that case in Lone Pine where those 5 kids that broke in that house and beat up that guy a few years back….guess what “business” those dudes were “allegedly” in…Judging from the numerous arrests and drug busts as of late,it seems most that abuse and sell weed are into bigger and more profitable drugs too..not all,but most….the pot dealers I’ve known in my life did..maybe marijuana isn’t seen as an addictive drug by most,but many doctors and medical professionals think it is,and can be for some .I’ve known people in my life that seemed to be….putting their marijuana use and dealing ahead of everything else…their relationships or marriges,their kids and their jobs…unable to enjoy anything unless they’re high on pot.With Ken Warner’s post above,the key sentence to his comment is the # 1,saying “the DRUG brought in $3.5 million in taxes and fees in January”…Is that what is best for the Country and economy and a way to help shore up the money woes this Country has….legalize a DRUG to fix the problems our Government caused with it’s overspending ?…
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 know, but it’s worth looking into.
Benett
Ken….O.K. ….So the state got a whole bunch of tax $$$$ from potheads buying weed….we’ll see how it turns out for the citizens in the long run…can’t see how a bunch of people going through their lives legally stoned is going to make things better or add anything to society.The one good thing about it is a whole lot of job openings and positions opening soon in Colorado….not nessessarily from the legalization of marijuana…..more so from those that will be calling in “sick”,quitting and unable to perform when they are at work…..or just not wanting to work anymore….why can I see a bunch of “guy-guys” sitting in a bedroom, passing around the bong,all planning to quit their jobs and become “marijuana farmers ” ?.
I’m not sure why you see that, but let’s consider that there are plenty of people who smoke marijuana and can easily get it while it is now illegal. Legality will likely not increase numbers of users but will keep some people out of jail where they don’t belong and improve the tax base. BK
No doubt your assessment will be true for some. But those same people probably are already using and whatever their live is now is not a result of legalization. And everything you said is equally true about booze.
I know people who are “functional alcoholics” who drink regularly and still function on the job. I’m not trying to justify any kind of intoxicated behavior but it is — and has been — part of the fabric of society forever.
Jeff B…..not this year..The supporters of legalizing weed are saying they ran out of $$$…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 ones in the nest.
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 all those “marijuana conventions” and parties they are having in Colorado during the daytime hours,some are thinking “How can these people be buying pot and making a living if they’re spending their days with the “guy-guys” getting stoned all day and making faces and acting stupid, blowing smoke in cameramen’s faces?.”
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 Department of Revenue also give a preliminary idea of the size of the marijuana trade in the state, showing $14 million worth of marijuana was sold in the first month of legal sales.”
Follow the money…. Better than tourism….
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 a month or less, if I use any more than that I feel ill effects and get disproportionate cost/ benefit.
Just because I can moderate tobacco which is highly addictive, I wouldn’t try to do it with Heroin. Heroin may be less addictive in a clinical sense than tobacco yet it makes up for it in thought process impairment.
Wayne, I am glad you are enjoying the e-cigs and that they are helping you detach from regular cigs.
My philosophy about tobacco, alcohol, or anything that can be compulsive is that moderation keeps it healthy and enjoyable. When it gets too big for life, its a problem for me.
Thanks,
Mongo
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 myself,and say since I’ve been smoking the E-cig,I smoke regular cigs a lot less,save a lot of $$$ on that alone,and like Robert states above,seem to feel healthier without the coughing I used to do in the evening after smoking over a pack a day habit for many years.
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 that is pretty bad.
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 such inhumane ways… addiction isn’t going away and treating it in punitive fashion we see today is leaving us with counter productive outcomes…
People struggle with all kinds of things that lead to negative outcomes, I say keep your judgement to yourself, if all it is doing is helping yourself feel good about YOURSELF!
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 the semantics? It’s not a huge problem in logic to know that if one uses e-cigs, you will remain or become a nicotine addict.
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 saying you can’t have help to quit smoking. Just don’t use e-cigs do it around me.
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 how the Govt. is going to deal with it,losing all that tax-money from cigarette smokers,in Washington state,they are talking about taxing the E-cig juice 75 %…proving they don’t really care or want people to quit smoking….only worried about how to make up the lost tax revenue if people do quit.As far as if E-cigs help people to cut back or quit…..simple answer….they do…
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 percentile that has hundreds of thousands of dollars to throw into campaign donations and lobbyists…and why anybody acts like the Republicans are better then the Democrats or vice versa is beyond me, because over 90% of all congressional seats since the 2000 elections have been won by the candidate that raises more money…. Just google it!
…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 is pretty low.
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 got one called “tesla” that is a big metal devise about 8 inches long..but don’t care if it looks silly to others or not..
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 a airplane used to be? Smoke filled cabin? Remember movies with people smoking and filling the theater with smoke? How about elevators or supermarkets or restaurants or laundromats?
I don’t care if people smoke — don’t make be breathe that poison.
Now, e-cigs. I don’t care what stupid teenagers or adults do to themselves. Don’t make me breathe the fumes.
Yes Trouble, we need regulations until people can become thoughtful and careful about what they do to others. What’s the chance of that?
I hope I get a lot of thumbs down on this one — each one convinces me I’m right.
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. You used to be able to ride your horse into town wearing a gun — you not the horse. Things change. If you can figure out a way to go back in time, I’ll go with you and bring the snacks.
Nobody is telling you NOT to smoke. Smoke 20 at a time like a Cone Head. Just don’t make me breath the smoke.
Less than 1 in 4 people smoke in the U.S. Does anyone’s right to smoke subsume the rights of others around you to not have to breath poison? I remember asking smokers to stop smoking around me. I almost got my butt kicked more than once. I have no sympathy for smokers.
I had a second hand smoke habit from the time I was born til I left home when I was 19. Everybody smoked — all the time. I was sick all the time. Keep your cigs and e-cigs away from me and sorry if you feel put upon.
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 my own car. Seat belt laws , soda laws and best yet, 18 year olds being sent to war can’t legally have a beer before or after going.
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 reduces reaction time. And seat belts do save lives. And given the number of irresponsible drivers on the road …. well, if it helps keep me alive I’m all for it.
When was the last time you drove down the Cajon Pass? That’s terrifying. 80mph bumper to bumper! And I’ve seen people on their cell. It’s crazy.
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 was back to compulsive smoking. I took the anti-smoking drug ZYBAN for two days. It made me feel very strange. Three and one half years ago, I used my first e-cig and I have been tobacco free ever since. My health has improved drastically. No coughing, The shortness of breath when climbing stairs is 90% gone. I still use the ecig and have no desire to use tobacco. I am considering going into the ecig business and I have started reading the ecig news. Banning, crackdowns, fears ,concerns, questions, gateway, fears, harming children is all that I read..
Hysteria over a “personal nicotine vaporizer”??? A small lithium battery,( lithium batteries power cellphones, laptop computers, pacemakers equipment on jet airliners etc.,) heats an element that turns nicotine liquid ( consisting of nicotine the same as in the nicotine gum paid for by Medicare and Medicaid, and food grade flavorings, in a base of propylene glycol which is rated GRAS, generally regarded as safe) in the Code of Federal Regulations Title 21, section 184-1666, and is found in many food products, asthma inhalers, the anti-smoking drug ZYBAN, toothpaste etc,) into vapor like your tea kettle.
I was awakened by the Bloomberg, 2/19/2014, article, “ GLAXO Memo Shows Drug Industry Lobbying on E-Cigarettes”. Glaxo-Smith Kline is the 4th largest Pharma company and it sells nicotine gum, lozenges, patches inhalers and the anti-smoking drug ZYBAN which I learned was actually the mind-altering psychiatric drug Wellbutrin. I then went on to read the Forbes 7/2/2012, article, “Feds Say Dr. Drew Was Paid by GLAXO TO Talk Up Antidepressant” Forbes in included a link to the 72 page Justice Department complaint against GLAXO which involved the illegal, deceptive and fraudulent marketing of antidepressants to children and adolescents. through their Doctors.
New York Times 7?2/2012, GLAXO Agrees To Pay THREE BILLION Fraud Settlement ( and pleads guilty to criminal charges). after a ten year investigation started by “whistle blowers”.
The New York Times, 12/14/2013, “The Selling of ADHD,( attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) documents the depths that Pharma will go to sell their drugs to children and adolescents through their Doctors..
I once considered myself well-informed but until reading this material, I had no idea of the actions of BIG PHARMA, which I consider the “Crime of the Century” I encourage you to read this material.
It is conceivable that the ecig could make nicotine gum, patches inhalers etc. and the mind altering psychiatric anti-smoking drugs (GLAXO is working on a new one GSK598809) obsolete, or at minimum reduce the sales. Big Pharma and the politicians that do their bidding agree that this cannot be allowed.
Who is harmed by this? Those who are near hopelessly addicted to cigarettes and the thousands of dangerous chemicals they contain. This propaganda campaign by Big Pharma and the politicians that they control is simply meant to scare people especially the elderly and dissuade them from trying a “personal nicotine vaporizer”
Take the anti-smoking drugs?? Read the black box warnings. Would you recommend them to your mother?
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 those on vacation and residents.
May cause withdrawal related injury.
Promotes out of area and mail order commerce.
Benefits;
Sends a anti tobacco message.
Generates ticket revenue?
Makes the Council appear proactive and cutting edge.
?????????????????????? any more? add your own.
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 dealt only with adolescents, and whose authors openly admitted that they had established no causal relationship between e-cigarette use and tobacco use. There is, quite simply, no evidence whatsoever that using e-cigarettes “encourages” tobacco smoking. Why, pray tell, would an e-cigarette user trade that habit for one that is vastly more dangerous, much more expensive, more socially unacceptable, and more inconvenient?
The efficacy of e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool is, admittedly, still mostly anecdotal. But the amount of anecdotal evidence is absolutely mountainous. Visit any e-cigarette web forum and witness tens of thousands of people, many of them lifelong, hardcore smokers who had all but given up any hope of quitting, who have succeeded in dropping the habit, easily and permanently, using e-cigs.
For my own part, I smoked for 25 years and wasn’t even planning on quitting when I bought a Blu starter kit (I mostly bought it out of curiosity to see what the fuss was all about). It was so much more enjoyable than traditional cigarettes that I quit the latter pretty much immediately. A nearly-full pack of Winston reds still sits in my desk drawer, untouched for over six months. I don’t have the slightest inclination to ever inhale tobacco smoke again.