E-cig anxiety at WWU

I wrote a letter to the editor that got published in the Western Washington University school newspaper in response to one of their articles. However, my letter has yet to be posted online...even though it has been months, so I am putting it on here for the time being.

Thank you for publishing the article concerning E-cigarettes. I am serious when I say that I have never heard someone complain about other people using them, so I am not sure how the concern over E-cigarettes came to be. While I am glad to know that the school faculty and AS Board of Directors care for our well-being, I believe they need to hear out the student body before making any rash decisions concerning the change of the smoking policy to include E-cigarettes.

It is my opinion that more research needs to be done on E-Cigarettes before anyone can say that they are any more or less healthy than normal tobacco products.

I have a question for those considering changing the smoking policy to include E-cigarettes:

Do you want it changed because of concerns about secondhand vapor negatively affecting the health of third parties, or are you trying to look after the health of the individuals who choose to partake in vaporizing?

If it is the first reason, I am sure the student body would like to see the research concluding that secondhand vapor has that effect on people.

If it is the latter, why do you feel the need to tell students what they can or cannot do with their own bodies via regulation? If instead of changing the policy you started an educational campaign teaching students about E-cigarettes, it would allow them to make informed decisions of their own without limiting their personal freedoms.

The Director of Environmental Health and Safety sent me information on why they were considering these policy changes and I wrote this in reply:

After reading this link from the University of Kentucky, I still stick to my arguments, especially the one dealing with a person being able to choose what to do with his or her own body. I find it very inconclusive. It seems that the university is more concerned with using biased sources, emotional appeals, and scare tactics to try to convince people not to use or support the use of E-cigarettes.  While it is true that they contain chemicals, even those that are considered carcinogenic, I would want to see more evidence that second vapor would actually negatively affect third parties.

It would also be worthwhile to mention that I was told the policy changes were in discussion because some students were vaporizing in the library and it caused the fire alarm to go off. Definitely not a knee-jerk reaction on the school's part. I will definitely be writing more about e-cigs in the future.