Chicago’s bizarre crackdown on e-cigs

The city of Chicago, in its infinite wisdom, has severely restricted use of e-cigarettes. Why? Because they can’t figure out if they are dangerous.

According to an article on the FDA website, electronic cigarettes have not been fully studied so they don’t know of any potential dangers. It states, “Only e-cigarettes that are marketed for therapeutic purposes are currently regulated by the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.” Huh? Does that mean that “marketed for therapeutic purposes” indicates that they have been fully studied? E-Cigarettes have been available for many years, why haven’t they been fully studied?

Another concern is “secondhand vapor.” If you’ve ever been to the theater where a mist/fog machine was used, you have been exposed to “secondhand vapor.” Yep, it’s the same chemical. I don’t see anyone rushing to ban those machines.

I use an e-cigarette. It helped me quit smoking. I have worked my way down from 16mg of nicotine to 6mg in less than four months. I told my doctor about it, and he is happy I quit tobacco. I have had no adverse effects. On the contrary, I’ve stopped coughing and can take nice deep breaths while still enjoying the sensation of smoking.

There is no doubt that e-cigarettes and e-liquid should not be marketed or sold to those under 18 years of age. However, the other restrictions are just a mean-spirited effort by power happy politicians to make people conform to their view of the universe. They also haven’t found a way to tax them yet and that’s probably the real reason they are being restricted.

If Chicago politicians were really concerned about public health, they would quit adding runways to O’Hare. Studies have shown that people who live under flight paths have higher instances of cancer. Talk about hypocrites.

Terry Tallian

Wood Dale