It has been recently reported on the State of California web site that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has declined to sign Senate Bill 400. On September 11, 2009, the California Senate passed Bill 400. The bill was originally written as "The Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program", and then was amended to ban the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors, which was very supportable. The wording in the bill was then amended to include a ban on the sale of electronic cigarettes in the state of California to adults.
Electronic cigarettes or E Cigarettes as they have become popularly known, have been introduced into the country over the past few years and became increasingly popular as the wave of anti-smoking laws were enacted across the country. The E Cigarette looks, feels, tastes like a tobacco cigarette and requires the same mechanical motions of inhaling and blowing out. They expel a harmless, odorless water vapor that looks like smoke, but isn't. It gives the user the full effect of smoking real tobacco without harsh tobacco smoke and without second hand smoke irritation or offending others. They do not contain the harmful chemicals that traditional cigarettes do. In the US, thousands of smokers have made the switch to electronic cigarettes to in a bid to quit smoking of smoking or change from the harmful effects of tobacco. "I think Governor Schwarzenegger made an intelligent decision" states Kyle Newton of eCigarettesChoice.com. California has always been on the leading edge of being a Green State and the electronic cigarette is a great alternative to tobacco. We can only hope that other states follow this example and examine the electronic cigarette as a harm reduction alternative over the hazardous tobacco cigarette. Besides tar and carbon monoxide, tobacco smoke contains approximately 4,000 different chemical, many of which are known be toxic to humans." It is not surprising that the electronic cigarette industry has come under attack by special interest groups who have yet to produce any scientific evidence that the electronic cigarette is harmful to humans, or that electronic cigarette dealers target younger people with their products. If it is proven that the electronic cigarette can be a more effective smoking cessation device than the patches and gums, the companies who fund these groups will feel a harsh economic crunch.
Rightly so, Governor Schwarzenegger has not buckled under the pressure of special interest groups to take away the freedom and individual rights from the people.