Chicago Health Commissione Ban on E-Cigarette

All of this, city officials assure, is aimed at protecting children. Chicago Health Commissioner Dr. Bechara Choucair told the Sun-Times that it's not enough that “we’ve seen a decrease [in youth smoking], then a plateau. We really need to break that plateau.” Choucair hopes to stamp out youth use of both cigarettes and e-cigarettes.

Erika Sward, vice president of the American Lung Association, voiced approval for Chicago's planned ban, saying, "We don't want to have people now exposed to e-cigarette second-hand emissions until we know more about them."

But can government officials actually convince people to stop smoking cigarettes while also preventing them from utilizing alternatives? Reason's Jacob Sullum has extensively covered e-cigarette issues and has noted that e-cigarettes are not a gateway to tobacco use, rather, “because e-cigarettes more closely simulate the experience of smoking than nicotine gum, patches, or inhalers do, they may be more effective in helping smokers quit.” Likewise, addressing concerns about safety, he has pointed out that “the health hazards of vaping pale beside those of smoking,” so the decrease in tobacco use that has coincided with the rise of e-cigarette use in young people “might signal successful harm reduction.”

Other cities considering e-cigarette restrictions include New York City, Oklahoma City, and Beverly Hills.

ReasonTV's Tracy Oppenheimer addressed a number of e-cigarette issues in the video below: