Dr. Jan Carney Says UVM Experience is a Good Reason to Include E-Cigs in Clean Indoor Air Laws

 

American Heart Association Board Member and Dean of Public Health at the UVM College of Medicine, Dr. Jan Carney testified before legislators and spoke at a legislative panel last month urging lawmakers to include a ban on e-cigarettes in the same areas that smoking is prevented under Vermont’s Clean Indoor Air laws.

Dr. Carney noted that UVM’s Tobacco-Free Policy took effect on the campus on August 1, 2015 and defines Tobacco-Free as prohibiting the use of all forms of tobacco, including e-cigarettes.

“From a campus-wide survey conducted last fall,” said Carney, “we learned that more than 25% of freshman undergraduates used e-cigarettes in the last 30 days and underclassmen were nearly 3 times more likely to use e-cigarettes than upperclassmen.”

“In a follow-up survey conducted a year later, and only about 3 months after the policy was implemented, we have already seen a significant decrease in reported exposure to second-hand smoke, and a significant decrease in tobacco use in undergraduate students. This speaks volumes to the strength of tobacco and e-cigarette-free policies in promoting a non-smoking norm. In our case, it happened after only 3 months.”

Carney urged lawmakers to pass H.171 to include e-cigarettes in Vermont’s Clean Indoor Air Laws because the secondhand vapor from e-cigarettes is not harmless water vapor. It contains nicotine, particles, irritants, and potential carcinogens.

Please urge your legislators to support H.171 by clicking on the following link. https://yourethecure.org/aha/advocacy/actioncenter.aspx

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