adminTwo bills are currently being proposed in Philadelphia City Council that relate to e-cigarette use in Philadelphia. The first seeks to prevent the sale of e-cigarette devices to minors, and the second would restrict the public spaces where a person could use the devices.
Since 2005, Philadelphia has had a public smoking ban. In a recent editorial in the Philadelphia Inquirer supporting the proposed e-cigarette ban in the city, Water Tsou, MD, said, “The safety of vaping remains untested, and the proper expectation of members of the public is that they should be able to enjoy a meal without wondering.” Dr. Tsou, a former Philadelphia health commissioner, authored the editorial with Frank Leone, a director of the Comprehensive Smoking Treatment Program at the University of Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Medical Society (PAMED) has been strongly pushing for support of Senate Bill 1055, awaiting Senate action, to treat electronic cigarettes the same as tobacco cigarettes, including banning sales to minors.
Commenting about PAMED’s support for SB 1055 earlier this year, PAMED President Bruce MacLeod, MD, said, “Electronic cigarettes mimic smoking tobacco cigarettes and deliver nicotine to the body.”