e-Cig News Roundup 2-24-12: There’s always more

Friday, February 24th, 2012 at 7:28 am

You made it through another week! Welcome to the Friday edition of the e-cigarette news roundup. Today we have a pretty bizarre followup to the story about the man refusing to put out his e-cigarette on a flight. Also an update on the Utah ban, and Dr. Siegel points out how silly one of Utah’s health officials can sound. Finally, John Tesh is back from the 80′s and for some reason, e-cigarettes anger him. Kick back and pursue today’s e-cigarette news.

The Plot Thickens

Remember the story from the last e-cigarette news roundup? The one about the guy on the airplane? Turns out the story is actually much less about vaping on a plane, and a lot more about this guy just flat-out having issues. Check out what MSNBC reported.

Yazeed Mohammed Abunayyan was “yelling profanities and swinging his fist at the flight attendant, hitting or attempting to hit several passengers, and speaking or singing about Usama [Osama] bin Laden and his hatred of women,” according to court documents obtained by KGW.

The report also notes that the man was arrested on suspicion of DUI after running into a couple of police cars a few days before this incident. The story also quotes a family member who claims the man is a schizophrenic and was off his medication for the last several weeks. I know I’m not a mainstream news source, but somehow, it seems to me the e-cigarette is the least interesting part of this story.

Utah Goes Ahead with Ban

Despite valiant efforts on both the part of e-cigarette users and hookah businesses, Utah has gone ahead with its ban on both items. Technically, it’s not a new ban, but rather re-defines those activities as smoking. There is a small exemption for existing businesses. Not all lawmakers were happy about that move.

The same image I used last time

“We’ve never given exemption on the Indoor Clean Air Act and I’m not comfortable starting now exempting certain businesses from the Indoor Clean Air Act,” said Ray. “Everybody falls under it and I think it’s bad policy to say ‘OK, everybody over here has to apply this but you guys are special, you don’t have to.’ I just think it’s a bad decision to go backwards on it.”

I don’t want to get all political up in here, but Ray is a Republican. Apparently there aren’t enough Democrats in Utah so Republicans have to take up stances that are more traditionally associated with the other guys.

Speaking of Utah

As you might imagine, prohibitionists are giddy over the unfortunate ban in Utah. Some people whose mission is supposed to be keeping people safe from smoking might have taken things too far. In a blog post, Dr. Siegel points out one official has essentially stated that cigarettes are preferable to vaping because the nicotine content is known with cigarettes.

Is the Utah Department of Health serious about this? Is it truly an advantage of cigarettes that the user knows exactly how much he is smoking? Should ex-smokers who have quit using e-cigs discontinue their use of electronic cigarettes and return to cigarette smoking because they are better off knowing how much nicotine they are getting?

I agree that I don’t really know how much I’m vaping as compared to being able to measure my smoking in packs per day. On the other hand, when I was a smoker, I wasn’t about to shoot myself in the head because I’d know exactly when it would kill me as opposed to not knowing when cigarettes would’ve done the job.

John Tesh, You Too?

If you lived through the 80′s, you may remember John Tesh from Entertainment Tonight (and later a music career that served as an antidote for insomnia). Apparently now he has a syndicated radio show. And for some reason he’s decided it would fun to attack e-cigarettes.

Are they safe? No. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration analyzed 19 varieties of e-cigarettes and found that half of them contain nitrosamines – the same cancer-causing chemicals found in real cigarettes. A lot of them also have more nicotine than they claim and some even contain a toxic ingredient found in antifreeze! Even worse, critics say that e-cigarettes target gadget-crazy kids. The nicotine cartridges come in “fun flavors” – like chocolate, mint, cola, apple, and bubblegum, and they’re available at kid-friendly hangouts, including online and at shopping malls.

There’s so many wrong things in there I’m not sure where to go with this… Should I point out that online isn’t a place? Or if online is a place (maybe in Delaware?) there are far scarier things there than e-cigarette stores. And why is a critic’s opinion considered data? I didn’t even quote the part where he seems to think the FDA is still seizing shipments.

Deal of the Moment

MyFreedomSmokes once again has something for you DIYers out there. Coupon code 15off will save you 15% on unflavored nicotine. But even better, that code will also work on DIY accessories. Including, it turns out, you can even get just the adapter for the plunger kit without having to buy extra syringes. Start shopping at MyFreedomSmokes.

Be a news spotter! Run across an article you think I should be mentioning here? Let me know! Just Tweet @SteveVape with the hashtag #ecignews or post it up on my Facebook page. I’ll be sure to give you a shout out in the news update if you’re the first one to spot it

Stock photos via MorgueFile

Image: TCJ2020 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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