There was a time when you could vape practically anywhere, even in places where smoking was banned. Unfortunately, that changed rapidly as anti-vaping groups pushed for vaping to be treated like tobacco, and their efforts were successful in many respects. Many areas of the country now ban vaping in non-smoking areas due to misinformation and fear. But there are still areas that welcome vaping, with little or no ban on vaping and treat it as a separate product from tobacco in terms of both banning and taxation.
The Washington, DC-based free-market think tank R Street ranked the vaping policies of 52 cities in the country. And the results, released this month, showed Virginia Beach topped the list with an A+. Minneapolis came in at the bottom with the lowest grade, an F, while other cities with Fs included Chicago, Philadelphia, Seattle, Boston, and eight cities in California — a state that recently approved a large tax increase on tobacco and e-cigarettes through a ballot measure.
The rankings are based on cities’ vaping regulations, including bans, taxes, and business licenses for vaping products. California cities like Los Angeles, San Diego, Fresno Long Beach, Sacramento, Oakland, San Jose, and San Francisco all scored low because of recent tax legislation in those locations. If the scores were re-scored with the most recent laws introduced after the rankings were compiled, California cities would have ranked even lower.
The city ranked last on the list, Minneapolis, has vaping laws that are deemed “failure to realize the potential of vaping products to reduce smoking,” according to the study’s authors.
On the brighter side of the rankings, Virginia Beach “has policies that are favorable to tobacco harm reduction.” The Virginia Supreme Court recognized the difference between tobacco and e-cigarettes in 2010. Virginia topped the rankings with a score of 97, the only city to score higher than the base score of 95. Other cities at the top of the rankings include Albuquerque, New Mexico, and three Arizona cities; Phoenix, Mesa, and Tucson. All of these cities were just one point shy of matching the base score of 95.
There are many cities that scored below zero. The authors conclude that California is on track to become the region with the worst attitudes toward vaping very quickly. Overall, the authors say that most vaping policies in US cities are based on misinformation, and they accuse lawmakers of being more interested in finding another form of income tax to replace tobacco taxes than in actually improving public health.
If, indeed, the rhetoric about reducing tobacco harm is true, then anti-vape policies are misguided and based on real concerns. In this case, educating the public about the safety of vaping would go a long way and help anti-vape policies move in the right direction toward more sensible laws, like laws that keep minors and children out of these products while still allowing adults to make safe choices. But if the real reason for vape taxes and bans is because governments are trying to replace lost tax revenue because people are quitting, then exposing this truth, along with the scientific evidence, would be the best way to force policymakers to change their views on vaping.
This article was published on churnmag by Jimmy Hafrey and translated by The Vape Club
