Kanawha County might ban e-cigarettes

Kanawha County might ban e-cigarettes

County officials not sold on tobacco-free nicotine devices
By Rusty Marks
The Charleston Gazette
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper wants to ban the use of electronic cigarettes for county workers on the job.

The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department recently banned the use of electronic cigarettes on Health Department property and in Health Department vehicles. The state also recently banned e-cigarettes for state employees on state property.

Electronic cigarettes are battery-powered devices that use a liquid-filled cartridge to simulate the effects of smoking by creating a fine mist that users can inhale like cigarette smoke. The liquid often contains nicotine, and the devices often are made to look like a conventional cigarette.

Electronic cigarettes are touted by manufacturers as being safer than conventional tobacco products. The medical field, however, has had mixed reactions to the devices.

Although the American Association of Public Health Physicians has said e-cigarettes might significantly decrease the amount of secondhand smoke in the air, an FDA study showed that the vapor produced by the devices might contain carcinogens and other harmful chemicals. The FDA recently lost a court battle to have electronic cigarettes regulated as drug-dispensing devices. They instead will be regulated as a tobacco product.

Some health professionals think electronic cigarettes can be an effective way to help people stop smoking, but Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, thinks there are enough questions about the safety of electronic cigarettes that health officials decided to ban the devices on Health Department property.

Gupta said there is effectively no limit on the amount of nicotine that can be delivered by the devices and said they could be modified to deliver other types of drugs. Opponents of electronic cigarettes also fear the marketing of the devices could encourage children to smoke.

Gupta sent copies of the Health Department policy to county officials and officials with the city of Charleston, suggesting they consider similar policies. "Our policy is to protect our own people," he said.