This is a syndicated post, which originally appeared at CASAA. View original post.
[full text] [legislative tracking]
If enacted, this bill would:
Ban the use of vapor products wherever smoking is banned. Among those provisions most likely to impact users are those that would:
- Permit landlords to ban e-cigarette use in private homes. (Section 2)
- Ban e-cigarette use inside or within 20 feet of any public building or in a vehicle owned by the state. (Section 5)
- Ban e-cigarette use in hospitals and medical facilities, except in specifically defined rooms where smoking is allowed (Sections 7 and 8)
- Declares that the use of electronic cigarettes “is a hazard to the health of the general public,” and would include e-cigarettes in all future smoking bans passed in California. (Section 14)
- Ban e-cigarette use in workplaces. Violations would be punishable by fines of $100, $200, and $500. (Section 15)
- Ban e-cigarette use in railroads and air carriers. (Section 16)
SB 648 is currently pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Committee on Health. Neither committee has scheduled SB 648 for a hearing. If you are in California and can travel to Sacramento to attend and speak at a hearing, please e-mail us at board@casaa.org with the subject line “California Testimony.” We are going to need vapers throughout California to organize trips to Sacramento. Please help out in any way you can.
Please call, write or fax the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Committee on Health below
What to say:
1. You would like them to vote NO on SB 648.
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. If you are a California resident and currently vape in public, talk your experience. Do businesses you frequent allow you to vape? What about your office? Be sure to include your address and full name.
5. Let them know that vapor does not behave in the same manner as smoke. There is no “side stream” vapor like the side stream smoke coming from the lit end of a cigarette. There is also no ash or litter. Additionally, e-cigarette users can decide whether to release any vapor (“stealth vaping”). With so little evidence of use, enforcing indoor use bans on electronic cigarettes would be nearly impossible.
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.
Senate Committee on Judiciary
Comma delimited e-mail list for the Senate Judiciary Committee*:
senator.evans@sen.ca.gov, senator.walters@sen.ca.gov, senator.anderson@senate.ca.gov, senator.corbett@sen.ca.gov, senator.leno@sen.ca.gov, senator.monning@sen.ca.gov
*See below — Senator Jackson must be contacted using a webform
Senator Noreen Evans (Chair) (D – District 2)
State Capitol, Room 4085
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-651-4002
Fax: 916-323-6958
Email: senator.Evans@sen.ca.gov
Senator Mimi Walters (Vice Chair) (R – District 37)
State Capitol, Room 3086
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4037
Fax: (916) 445-9754
Senator Joel Anderson (R – District 36)
State Capitol, Room 2054
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916.651.4036
Fax: 916.447.9008
Email: senator.Anderson@senate.ca.gov
Senator Ellen M. Corbett (D – District 10)
State Capitol, Room 313
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone:(916) 651-4010
Fax: (916) 327-2433
Email: senator.Corbett@sen.ca.gov
Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D – District 19)
State Capitol, Room 5080
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4019
Please contact Senator Jackson using this webform
Senator Mark Leno (D – District 11)
State Capitol, Room 5100
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4011
Fax: (916) 445-4722
Email: senator.Leno@sen.ca.gov
Senator Bill Monning (D – District 17)
State Capitol, Room 4066
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4017
Fax: (916) 445-8081
Email: senator.Monning@sen.ca.gov
Addresses & Staff
Chief Counsel: Benjamin Palmer
Counsels: Ronak Daylami, Nichole Rapier, and Tara Welch
Assistant: Roseanne Moreno
Phone: (916) 651-4113
Room: 2187
Senate Committee on Health
Comma delimited e-mail list for the Senate Committee on Health:
senator.hernandez@senate.ca.gov, senator.anderson@senate.ca.gov, senator.beall@sen.ca.gov, senator.desaulnier@sen.ca.gov, senator.monning@sen.ca.gov, senator.nielsen@sen.ca.gov, senator.pavley@sen.ca.gov, senator.wolk@sen.ca.gov
Senator Ed Hernandez (Chair) (D – District 24)
State Capitol, Room 2080
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4024
Fax: (916) 445-0485
Email: senator.Hernandez@senate.ca.gov
Senator Joel Anderson (Vice Chair) (R – District 36)
State Capitol, Room 2054
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4036
Fax: (916) 447-9008
Senator Jim Beall (D – District 15)
State Capitol, Room 2068
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4015
Email: senator.Beall@sen.ca.gov
Senator Mark DeSaulnier (D – District 7)
State Capitol, Room 5035
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4007
Fax: (916) 445-2527
Email: senator.DeSaulnier@sen.ca.gov
Senator Bill Monning (D – District 17)
State Capitol, Room 4066
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4017
Fax: (916) 445-8081
Email: senator.Monning@sen.ca.gov
Senator Jim Nielsen (R – District 4)
State Capitol, Room 4062
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4004
Fax: (916) 445-7750
Email: senator.Nielsen@sen.ca.gov
Senator Fran Pavley (D – District 27)
State Capitol, Room 4035
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4027
Email: senator.Pavley@sen.ca.gov
Senator Lois Wolk (D – District 3)
State Capitol, Room 5114
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4003
Fax: (916) 323-2304
Email: senator.Wolk@sen.ca.gov
Addresses & Staff:
Staff Director: Melanie Moreno
Consultants: Katie Trueworthy, Scott Bain, Vincent D. Marchand, and Tanya Robinson-Taylor
Assistants: Jessica Langtry, Alex Norring
Phone: (916) 651-4111
Fax: (916) 324-0384
Room: State Capitol, Room 2191
