White
asked Municipal Counselor Ken Jordan at a city council
meeting to prepare a report about the possibility of outlawing the
devices, which reportedly help people quit using tobacco products.
White
doesn’t believe the hype that e-cigarettes will eliminate the
desire to smoke.
“It’s
a tobacco product and another path to addiction,” he said. “The
FDA (Food and Drug Administration) hasn’t determined anything about
the health aspect of it and it’s a totally unregulated industry.
It’s not even inspected like lettuce is.”
Having
heard stories that the e-cigarette cartridges could be filled with
marijuana or other illegal substances, White is adamant that the new
devices should be placed in the same category as traditional tobacco
products.
“I’m
a true believer that we can’t just give lip service to staying
healthy. We should treat these e-cigarettes just like regular tobacco
use, making it embarrassing for people to use them or tax the heck
out of it,” he said. “The logic is the same.”
OKC
wouldn’t be the first city in Oklahoma to outlaw e-cigarettes. Ada
has banned e-cigarettes on public property while the University of
Central Oklahoma and the University of Oklahoma have outlawed their
use anywhere on campus. Officials at Oklahoma State University have
delayed their decision on a possible ban until December.
E-cigarettes
are a smokeless way to ingest nicotine, although some users choose
products without nicotine. In those instances, the devices emit
vapor.
The
U.S. Food and Drug Administration reportedly are working on
legislation that would classify e-cigarettes as tobacco products.
Already, some states have passed their own regulations. Utah, North
Dakota, Arkansas, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. banned e-cigarettes
indoors. California has banned e-cigarettes online.
