BOSTON ? Last week the Boston Public Health Commission unanimously approved proposed rules that would regulate electronic cigarettes as a cigarette product.
The Boston Globe reports that the commission?s proposal would require retailers to obtain a permit to sell e-cigarettes, as well as ban use of e-cigarettes in the workplace.
?We don?t know what people are inhaling with these e-cigarettes,? said Nikysha Harding, director of tobacco control for the commission. ?We see these as a gateway for youth to become addicted to nicotine.?
The commission also gave initial approval to doubling fines on retailers who sell tobacco products to those under 18, notes the newspaper, adding that proposed rules would ?prohibit the sale of low-cost, single cigars just slightly larger than cigarettes that have become an attractive option for price-conscious youth looking for alternatives to cigarettes.?
The commission is planning to vote on the proposed rules on November 10. Should the rules pass, they would take effective within 30 days. The single cigar restrictions would take effective 60 days later.
Retailers would also be required to apply for a permit through the commission?s Tobacco Control office to sell e-cigarettes, which would have to be placed behind the store counter, like tobacco products.
A public hearing on the proposed regulation is scheduled for 6:00 pm on October 4, in the Hayes Conference Room on the second floor of commission?s offices at 1010 Massachusetts Ave. Written comments are being accepted by the commission September 11 through October 10. They can be sent to the Boston Public Health Commission, Board Office, Attention: Jamie Martin, Board Secretary, 1010 Massachusetts Ave., 6th floor, Boston, MA 02118, or e-mailed to boardofhealth@bphc.org.
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