Madison ban on indoor e-cigarettes the right move to make

Science on "vaping" demonstrates that it has hazardous effects on smokers, including secondhand inhalation

A recent ban on indoor e-cigarette smoking in Madison is the right path to take. The state of Wisconsin, which already has a ban on “conventional” indoor cigarette smoking, should follow suit.

While many claim that smoking e-cigarettes, or “vaping,” helps to curtail smoking overall (eventually leading towards quitting completely), the evidence on the “benefits” of vaping is lacking.

The science on e-cigarettes is incomplete at this point, but some early studies suggest it’s still a public health concern. In some ways, it may even be worse than conventional smoking:

Electronic cigarettes, marketed as safer than regular cigarettes, deliver a cocktail of toxic chemicals including carcinogens into the lungs, new studies show. Using e-cigarettes may even make bacterial infections resistant to antibiotics, according to one study.

Emphasis added.

Secondhand e-cigarette smoke may be harmful as well, in ways unimagined by smokers in the past. Metals like chromium and nickel are present in e-cigarette smoke, in some cases at levels four times higher than that in conventional smoking.

Stipulating that e-cigarettes and regular smoking are to be treated equally in the city of Madison is the right direction to take. Until further research is conducted proving definitively that vaping causes no harm to those surrounding e-cigarette smokers, we should err on the side of caution, assuming that the harm does exist.

Madison is a leader on this move, and other communities should follow the direction it has taken. The state of Wisconsin as a whole should consider a measure banning indoor e-cigarette use as well.