City Councilman Discusses Vote To Ban E-Cigarettes in Public Places Throughout Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Dom Giordano talked to City Councilman Bill Greenlee about the Council's plan to vote on a proposal to ban e-cigarettes in public places throughout Philadelphia.
Greenlee explained the rationale behind the measure is that much is still unknown about e-cigarettes and they could potentially be a safety risk.
"Electronic cigarettes are a totally unregulated product by the federal government. You don't really know what's in them. There are disputes about the danger of them. What we're basically doing is taking a precautionary measure. We're asking people if they want to use them and they feel it helps them or they like them, fine, but not in public spaces because there's enough concern raised by medical people that there could be a problem here," he commented.
He said around the country legislators are considering comparable measures to limit use of these products in public space.
"We saw what other cities and whole states have done; New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, the whole state of New Jersey, and many other states and municipalities have put very similar regulations into what we're proposing here," he said.
Listen to full interview here:
Greenlee thinks it is better to act now in case evidence is discovered regarding any dangers with e-cigarettes emerges down the road.
"We should take precautionary steps. Do we want to look back later, when it finally does come out what's in all these products, that they could've been causing harm to people," he stated.
He thinks the council's proposal is a logical step to protect those who may be impacted negatively without their consent.
"I think what we're trying to protect here are both the potential problems for workers and other people not using this product. I think it's a fair compromise on this issue to not allow it in public places," he said.