Last night, the passage of a NYC vaping ban — essentially relegating e-cig users to smoker status — angered the vaper web, many of whom took to Twitter to vent their frustrations.
In the interest of full disclosure, Social News Daily‘s sister site (for which I exclusively write content) is the unabashedly pro-vaping Vape Sorter, and individually, I am a vaper and vaping advocate. My own views do not reflect those of my SND colleagues and partners as a whole, but we’d be remiss to omit this connection. (And you should totally check out Vape Sorter if you vape or want to vape, or love a smoker and want to help them switch. Vape on!)
On to Twitter, and the reaction to the New York City Council’s vaping ban vote. Following a contentious decision in October to regulate e-cig sales by tobacco laws, the council voted 48 to eight to enact the new legislation forcing vapers to abide smoking laws. (The NYCC even admitted the sole reason was because vaping “looks like smoking.”)
Ahead of the vote, NYC vaper and Click Bang host Russ Wishtart attempted to rally vapers to show support, tweeting:
Today, vapers will fight for their rights in NYC as the @NYCCouncil votes on a vaping ban. Show your support by going to City Hall at 1PM.
— Russ (@burnt_wick) December 19, 2013
Alas, the NYCC couldn’t be swayed, and Twitter was glum with the news that many would be discouraged altogether from a switch to e-cigs:
You can’t use an e-cigarette on a beach in NYC?! They’ve gone mad.
— Tracy Lee (@TracyLConnors) December 20, 2013
Now this seems pretty unfair – New York City May Ban Vaping Because It Looks Like Smoking https://t.co/YXs0HkoY4C
— Premium Vapes (@premiumvapes) December 20, 2013
Vapers’ rights group Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives (CASAA) retweeted one scathing reaction to the flimsy justification:
Today we have the most concrete proof that it’s never been about the smoke. It’s about hating someone else’s choice @NYCCouncil #ecigban
— Audrey Silk (@nycclash) December 19, 2013
The group directly tweeted:
Seems NYC council is more concerned about congratulating each other and starting holiday vacations than NYC vapers. https://t.co/FienvyyNPh — CASAA (@CASAAmedia) December 19, 2013
CASAA representatives also set the record straight:
.@thedailybeast @Olivianuzzi Also, we don’t know if e-cigarette vapor has the same effects as smoke? Really? https://t.co/FGuCQmXZHo
— Gregory Conley (@GregTHR) December 20, 2013
In addition to a vocal vaper response on Twitter to the NYC vaping ban, a Reddit thread about the unpopular decision was one of the top posts in r/electronic-cigarette today. How did your Twitter react to the vote?
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