Will E-Cigarettes Be Banned by DOT?

The Department of Transportation has proposed a rule to amend federal regulation banning cigarettes on aircrafts to include vaporizers (electronic- or e-cigarettes), which they would like to regulate as tobacco products. This would include any device that delivers nicotine in a vapor form (e.g. pipe-shaped, e-cigar, box-mods) and violations would result in the same fines and legal repercussions as smoking a burning, analog cigarette on an aircraft.

The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-Free Alternatives Association (CASAA) has issued a call-to-action, encouraging those who support the vaping community and smoke- free alternatives to go to www.regulations.gov and submit a respectful request that DOT withdraw this proposal. The call-to-action offers guidelines for those who intend to leave a comment in the docket folder, including instructions to leave full names and use respectful language.

DOT’s justification for this proposal is that the health risks imposed by the exhaled vapors are unknown. They seek clarity in the regulation so that the air-quality in aircraft will not be compromised. They also state clearly that nicotine delivery systems should be considered tobacco products; defined as “any product made or derived from tobacco.”

CASAA rebuts these claims with the argument that there is no proven harmful effect of the vapor in a nicotine vaporizer. Furthermore, the toxicology reviews of Dr. Zachary Cohen and Dr. Michael Siegel conclude that the vapor and liquid in nicotine vaporizers are, by far, safer than any analog cigarette. Many would argue that the vapor-producing devices are more akin to asthma-regulating inhalers, or nicotine gum, than to combusted tobacco.

The DOT also fails to take note of the thousands of vapers who have successfully stepped down to doses of flavored vapor that contain zero (0) mg of nicotine, using vaporizers to fulfill the physical addiction that afflicts most smokers. If, as proposed, all vaporizing devices are considered “tobacco products,” so would those that contain no products made or derived from the tobacco plant at all. Several comments argue that it would be unfair to those who have made the effort to give up nicotine completely to be inconvenienced for having a flavor-habit.

The docket folder for the proposed rule amendment will be taking comments from the public until the fourteenth of November. The site can be accessed through CASAA’s call to action or directly through the government site. The CASAA has asked that vapers and supporters of the alternative nicotine delivery systems comment by the deadline, November 14th; they would like to have at least a thousand comments on their side by then.