A deadly e-cigarette tax went into effect in Chicago on January 1st. Knowing how toxic smoking is, e-cigarette users and business people are frustrated by the attack on this common method to quit.
- Not-so-Happy New Year from Chicago
- Traditional Cigarettes: 600 Unasked-for Ingredients
- The Skinny on Chicago’s Vaping Tax
- Making the Switch
Not-so-Happy New Year from Chicago
The City of Chicago passed an exorbitant tax on vapor products in 2015 that went into action on New Year’s Day, 2016. The timing of this tax was really bad, since giving up cigarettes is such a common New Year’s resolution. Simultaneously with the introduction of the tax, Chicago’s government also started publicizing an anti-vaping message based on junk science. Why is this tax so deadly? E-cigarettes are a non-toxic, non-combustible smoking-cessation tool. Let’s look at tobacco cigarettes.
Traditional Cigarettes: 600 Unasked-for Ingredients
Every single day, more than 3000 children and teens start smoking in the United States. The casualness with which people have their first cigarette is in stark contrast to the anguish and devastation that a smoking habit can deliver, through smoking-related illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. It’s easy to think that tobacco is the core problem with cigarettes, but there’s a more likely payday loans online source of the almost half-million American deaths that result from smoking annually: additives. A typical cigarette can have as many as 600 other ingredients that are beyond the 7000 chemicals that are released when you burn one. “One of the issues with cigarettes is that they have hundreds of added ingredients, not just what is naturally in the tobacco plant,” says Mount Sinai environmental health scientist Dr. Luz Claudio. “What complicates this even more is that when these chemicals burn, they form other chemicals that may have additional effects on health.” RJ Reynolds and other cigarette manufacturers say that many of the additives they use are FDA-approved for general consumption. However, that’s a difficult argument when you look at some of the specific substances that are green-lit for smokers. One of the most obvious ones is arsenic. This synthetic chemical is used in rat poison. Ingesting arsenic causes cancer and can lead to birth defects! No thank you. You may also recognize another poison favorite, carbon monoxide. You will also see this chemical in insecticide and car emissions. Another star additive is formaldehyde, which is carcinogenic and one of the main ingredients used to embalm corpses. Gross. A lot of the problem with cigarettes has to do with the way it impacts our access to oxygen, explains City of Hope pulmonologist Dr. Brian Tiep. “First, carbon monoxide grabs on to the hemoglobin molecule, which prevents the transport of oxygen through red blood cells,” he says. “Secondly, cyanide hinders tissue’s ability to take up and utilize oxygen.” Our body’s cells are unable to remain healthy without consistent oxygen access, so smoking suffocates us. None of this sounds good, does it? Along come e-cigarettes, which do not have the same properties as cigarettes and certainly don’t contain its incredible range of chemicals. Even when vapor does contain the same toxins, they are in tiny, trace amounts – quantities that are, in fact, within the legal limits for pharmaceutical medicine. In that light, the anti-vaping actions in Chicago are particularly disturbing – because they make an easy and safe way to get off cigarettes unaffordable for many.
The Skinny on Chicago’s Vaping Tax
The tax is now 55 cents on every milliliter of e-liquids that contain nicotine. The impact typically means that prices in 2016 are about twice what they were in 2015. A standard-size vapor product is 20 milliliters, so the tax on that is now $16.50. Previously these bottles were sold at about that price (under $20), so you can see how much more expensive it is now to vape in the Windy City. American Vaping Association President Gregory Conley said that this tax is the most detrimental he has seen. “The tax is so high that it will shut down many businesses and discourage Chicago smokers from quitting,” he said in December. “This also means that cigarette tax revenue will keep flowing, which will surely make Mayor Rahm Emanuel happy.” As if the tax weren’t aggressive enough at face value, it was applied retroactively to all inventory, which means businesses that already had the product on their shelves started the year owing a huge amount in city taxes. Many vapor store owners were worried they would have to close up shop. The Chicago Department of Health also started an anti-vaping initiative, #VapingTruth. People were not impressed with this effort by and large. Former Action on Smoking & Health director Clive Bates said the message “uses crude lies to deny real human stories.” Similarly, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said, “The harm of the combustible cigarette is dramatically greater than the harm of the e-cigarette.”
Making the Switch
Chicago’s new law doesn’t make life easier for vapers to buy what they need in the city. However, we can help you get started quitting smoking with vaping. At eCIG.com, we only stock new, authentic, brand-name ecig products and accessories. Make the switch.