Protect Your Vaping Rights California
California: Attempt to Add E-Cigarettes to "Smoking" Ban -- SB 648
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)
UPDATED (3/20/2013):
SB 648 has been scheduled for a hearing before the currently pending before the Senate Committee on Wednesday, April 17, 2013 at 1:30 p.m. in Sacramento at the State Capitol Building, Room #4203 (John L. Burton room). Public comment will be heard at the end of the hearing and is open to the public.
If you would like to submit testimony directly to the Health Committee, please email or fax Senate Health Committee Assistant Alex Norring at alex.norring@sen.ca.gov / (916) 324-0384. If emailing, please put "SB 648 Testimony" in the subject line. The deadline for official testimony is April 10th, but you can continue to contact individual legislators up to and after the April 17th hearing..
Please call, write or fax the members of the Senate Health Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee below
What to say:
1. You would like them to vote NO on SB 648.
2. Tell your story on how switching to an ecigarette has changed your life.
3. Explain how smoking bans are enacted to protect the public from the harm of secondhand smoke, but e-cigarettes have not been shown to cause harm to bystanders. In fact, all evidence to date shows that the low health risks associated with e-cigarettes is comparable to other smokeless nicotine products.
The low risks of e-cigarettes is supported by research done by Dr. Siegel of Boston University, Dr. Eissenberg of Virginia Commonwealth, Dr Maciej L Goniewicz of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute,Dr. Laugesen of Health New Zealand and by the fact that the FDA testing, in spite of its press statement, failed to find harmful levels of carcinogens or toxic levels of any chemical in the vapor.
4. Detail 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. 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.
5. If you are a California resident and currently vape in public, talk about your experience. Do businesses you frequent allow you to vape? What about your office? Be sure to include your address and full name.
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.
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.desaulnier@sen.ca.gov, senator.pavley@sen.ca.gov, senator.wolk@sen.ca.gov
*See below -- Senators Beall, Monning, and Nielsen must be contacted using a webform*
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
Please contact Senator Beall using this webform
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
Please contact Senator Monning using this webform
Senator Jim Nielsen (R - District 4)
State Capitol, Room 4062
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4004
Fax: (916) 445-7750
Please contact Senator Nielsen using this webform
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
Senate Committee on Judiciary
Comma delimited e-mail list for the Senate Judiciary Committee*:
senator.walters@sen.ca.gov, senator.anderson@senate.ca.gov, senator.corbett@sen.ca.gov, senator.leno@sen.ca.gov
*See below -- Senators Evans, Jackson and Monning 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: 916-323-6958Please contact Senator Evans using this webform
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) (BILL SPONSOR)
State Capitol, Room 313
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone:(916) 651-4010
Fax: (916) 327-2433Please contact Senator Corbett using this webform
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
Please contact Senator Monning using this webform
Addresses & Staff
Chief Counsel: Benjamin Palmer
Counsels: Ronak Daylami, Nichole Rapier, and Tara Welch
Assistant: Roseanne Moreno
Phone: (916) 651-4113
Room: 2187