Dighton adopts regulation to put electronic cigarettes under umbrella of tobacco products

Tom Kiklas, a spokesperson for the Alpharetta, Ga.,-based Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association, acknowledges that there have been some companies that "are not doing the research" when they are telling people in their advertisements they can smoke the e-cigarettes anywhere. Kiklas said,MOST Cable for OPS/OPPS on the contrary, the leaders of his association fought against classifying e-cigarettes as separate from tobacco products during the Smoking Everywhere v. the Food and Drug Administration case played out over 2009 and 2010."It's our position that it is a tobacco product and should be regulated as such," Kiklas said. "Our position is this is a tobacco product and we should adhere to all local and federal regulations."

On the other hand, Kiklas said, he hopes that the society's understanding of e-cigarettes will "evolve," to realize that it is harmless to use e-cigarettes in public places. Kiklas said that compared to litany of harmful ingredients in tobacco, there are only five ingredients in e-cigarettes which have individually been approved for public use by the FDA, while the product on a whole has not been approved by the FDA. Kiklas also scoffed at a Mayo Clinic report released recently that said, "very little is known about the health effects of electronic cigarettes," while Mayo promoted so-called nicotine inhalers as a proven safe way to help people stop smoking."We just ask for logic when it comes to this debate," Kiklas said.According to the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association, 4 million Americans use e-cigarettes, with a billion dollars in sales projected by the end of the year.

While Dighton has decided to provide a license for selling tobacco and e-cigarettes under the title of "tobacco and nicotine product sales," Taunton requires a permit for each.Marilyn Edge, director of the Western Bristol County and Foxboro Tobacco and Alcohol Prevention,BMW Carsoft 6.5 said that Taunton has maintained its own policy that addresses e-cigarettes for two or three years.        "Before it was passed you could use them in public places," said Edge, who added that Taunton-area businesses have been provided with signage alerting customers that using e-cigarettes is not allowed.Edge said e-cigarettes still remain relatively new territory for many vendors.