Please Take Action for Smokefree Alaska!

Publication Date: 2016-04-05

Please take a moment to call or email the members of the Alaska House Judiciary Committee to voice support for House Bill 328. 

Let these lawmakers know that you support smokefree air inside workplaces and public places - without any exemptions for indoor use of electronic smoking devices.

Please call or email these legislators' offices:

Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux (Chair)	800-689-4998Â	 representative.gabrielle.ledoux@akleg.gov
Rep. Wes Keller (Vice Chair)	800-468-2186	 representative.wes.keller@akleg.gov
Rep. Matt Claman	888-465-4919	 representative.matt.claman@akleg.gov
Rep. Jonathan Kress-Tomkins	888-461-3732	 representative.jonathan.kreiss-tomkins@akleg.gov
Rep. Neal Foster (Co-Sponsor of HB 328, please thank him)	800-478-3789	 representative.neal.foster@akleg.gov
Rep Bob Lynn (Co-Sponsor of HB 328, please thank him)	800-870-4931	 representative.bob.lynn@akleg.gov
Rep. Charisse Millett (Co-Sponsor of HB 328, please thank her)	888-269-3879	  representative.charisse.millett@akleg.gov

A call to each of these representatives could mean the different between a delay moving HB 328 out of committee or not.

Thank you for letting your lawmakers know why you personally support smokefree workplaces and public places for everyone in Alaska – without any exemptions for indoor use of electronic smoking devices.

Background:

• Smokefree Alaska’s Senate Bill 1 has passed the Senate. That bill has now moved to the House and is awaiting committee assignment.  Meanwhile, the House companion bill HB 328, is being heard  in the House Judiciary Committee - a key step in this process.
  
  
• Local smokefree indoor air laws protect half of Alaska’s population. A statewide law would extend that same protection to everyone in the state. This law would save lives and health care costs for generations to come from the staggering toll of secondhand smoke.
  
  
• E-cigarette industry proponents, including tobacco companies, often lobby to allow use of their products inside smokefree environments. Their goal is not public health, but rather to maximize profits by enabling product consumption inside otherwise smokefree environments.  E-cigarette proponents may claim that the chemical aerosol emitted by these products is completely harmless and only contains “water vapor.” It’s worth noting that water typically isn’t an ingredient in these products.
  
  
• Research shows that e-cigarettes and vaping devices can produce high levels of harmful ultra-fine particles that can irritate or damage the respiratory system.  These products produce a dense visible aerosol of liquid sub-micron droplets consisting of glycols, nicotine, volatile organic compounds, and carcinogens (e.g., formaldehyde, metals like cadmium, lead, & nickel, and nitrosamines).  So while some may believe the product is “safer” than a conventional cigarette, the use of and exposure to e-cigarettes certainly isn't harmless or risk-free.  Even substances that might be safe for eating have not been tested for safety as a heated, inhaled aerosol.
  
  
• E-cigarettes and vaping devices are completely unregulated – there is simply no way to know what is in one device vs. the thousands of others. They are not one standardized chemical product, but thousands of different ones - many of which are produced off-shore, then bought and sold online with no requirement for ingredient disclosure or quality control.  These devices can also be used to vape a wide range of substances from nicotine e-juice to hash oil to flakka (a synthetic drug).  Some devices even have multiple chambers for vaping different products.
  
  
• Regardless of the debate of whether these products serve a role in cessation, there is simply no need to use them inside shared air spaces (such as workplaces and public places) where others are then subject to the hazardous secondhand emissions.  
  
  
• Alaska should follow the recommendations of experts such as the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH); the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE); the World Health Organization (WHO); the American Industrial Hygiene Association; and other health and safety organizations that recommend that electronic smoking devices should not be used inside smokefree spaces.

P.S. Please let us know that you took action and if you receive a response from your lawmakers by emailing anr@no-smoke.org.

Thanks for taking action!

See the full alert at http://salsa4.salsalabs.com/o/51299/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=1304051

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A call to each of these representatives could mean the different between a delay moving HB 328 out of committee or not.

Thank you for letting your lawmakers know why you personally support smokefree workplaces and public places for everyone in Alaska – without any exemptions for indoor use of electronic smoking devices.