As reported by CASAA’s Call to Action from November 1st, the Alameda City Council was considering a comprehensive smoking ban; which included electronic cigarettes in the definition of “smoking.” This would have prohibited the use of e-cigarettes everywhere smoking was not allowed – including condominiums, outdoor bar patios and beaches.
CASAA called for members to urge the City Council to remove e-cigarettes from the proposed ordinance and arranged for locals to make public comments at the Council’s first reading. Due to these efforts and those of local e-cigarette merchants, e-cigarettes were removed from the ordinance until more information could be provided to the Council.
On November 15, Alameda City Council voted 5-0 to approve the new smokefree ordinance, with e-cigarettes excluded. The city prominently touts the removal of e-cigarettes from the proposed ordinance. [The City of Alameda – Secondhand Smoke Ordinance]
News story and minutes of the Nov. 15 council meeting may be read at [Big Night at Alameda City Council: Smoking Law Passes, City to Explore Alternatives to Cowan Land Swap – Alameda, CA Patch]
“Alameda City Council’s decision to remove e-cigarettes is really important,” CASAA Advisor Bill Godshall posted at E-Cigarette-Forum.com, “as Alameda is within five miles of UCSF (where Stan Glantz is located); Berkeley (where Americans for Nonsmokers Rights is headquartered); ALA’s regional office where lobbyist Serena Chen works; and the Public Health Law and Policy office in Oakland (which drafted model ordanances to ban e-cig use at Electronic Cigarettes: How They Are – and Could Be – Regulated | PHLP and http://www.phlpnet.org/sites/phlpnet…d_20111021.pdf).”
“Hopefully, what happened in Alameda will make these e-cigarette prohibitionists reassess their strategy and tactics to inaccurately define “smoking” as including e-cigarette usage in future smokefree ordinance campaigns, and [discontinue making] false claims about e-cigarettes,” Godshall wrote.
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