As the Legislature considers how it will fund the state’s 2016 budget, Gov. Jay Inslee is asking that the Legislature’s budget do the following:
Apply a 95 percent sales tax on all vapor product devices, components and liquids;
- Ban all online sales to state residents;
- Ban all flavors other than tobacco, mint, wintergreen and menthol; and
- Ban sampling in all vape shops
In November of 2013, I smoked my last cigarette.
I loved smoking, I just hated all the hassles that come with it, and the expense, and the dirt and ash and stink, health risks, and offense to others, But I loved smoking and so I was not looking to quit.
I learned about e-cigarettes, and I switched. Gone are the heavy expense, the hassles, the dirt and ash, the bad health risks, the offense to others. I now love vaping.
There is a lot of propaganda out there trying to claim that e-cigs are just as bad as regular tobacco. It would be of interest to you to know that regular tobacco manufacturers are just some of the ones funding such nonsense, because the e-cig industry is cutting directly into their profits. Meanwhile, they have the funds to push legislation that leave them the only ones in business.
The ingredients in an e-cig which produce the actual vapor, are the exact same thing in asthma inhalers. The other ingredients are added food-grade natural or artificial flavors, and the only toxic ingredient is the nicotine alone. There are no other hidden mystery ingredients. Many vapers start with high nicotine content but reduce as they go, because the flavors taste better without the nicotine.
As for the flavor banning, they claim it is to hinder the marketing appeal to kids. This ban leave only the same flavors we have with regular cigarettes. To restrict the availability of flavors, only makes it harder for former smokers to move further away from cigarettes.
I just tried a new flavor that taste like a chocolate mint. Its the first non-cigarette flavor I have tried, it taste better than a cigarette ever did. And yes, right now, I still buy my flavor with nicotine. But, it’s another step away from cigarettes, and this has been a very common trend among ex smokers who turn to vaping. We start seeking whatever will most taste like our cigarettes, and then we experiment, and move farther away from them. We find a lot of things taste better than tobacco!
While governments, state and local, preach on protecting public health, one needs to take a look at how much tax revenue is part of the cost of each pack of cigarettes sold. Whether you are a smoker, ex-smoker, or never were a smoker, a little common sense is needed, It’s better for all of us, simply for health care costs alone, if a much healthier alternative to smoking, is encouraged, rather than supressed.
Gail L. Grace is an Arlington resident.
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