{"id":301850,"date":"2017-03-08T09:41:33","date_gmt":"2017-03-08T16:41:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=301850"},"modified":"2017-03-08T09:50:19","modified_gmt":"2017-03-08T16:50:19","slug":"senate-votes-to-apply-smoking-rules-to-vaping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2017\/03\/senate-votes-to-apply-smoking-rules-to-vaping\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate votes to apply smoking rules to vaping"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_56542\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-56542\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Kids-at-Roundhouse-771x504.jpg\" alt=\"A statue outside the Roundhouse in Santa Fe.\" width=\"771\" height=\"504\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Kids-at-Roundhouse-771x504.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Kids-at-Roundhouse-336x220.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Kids-at-Roundhouse-768x502.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Kids-at-Roundhouse-1170x764.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Kids-at-Roundhouse.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Heath Haussamen \/ NMPolitics.net<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A statue outside the Roundhouse in Santa Fe.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The state Senate voted 30-10 on Tuesday to restrict the use of e-cigarettes in public places much like other cigarettes, backing a proposal to curb what some public health advocates argue are the dangers of nicotine vapor from products that have gained popularity rapidly in just the last few years.<\/p>\n<p>But some senators argued it is premature to treat e-cigarettes like traditional tobacco products, maintaining that too little is known about the health effects of &#8220;vaping&#8221; to warrant strong restrictions. And language in the bill that could change where patrons of restaurants and bars are already allowed to smoke also raised concerns among some Republicans.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This article comes from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.santafenewmexican.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Santa Fe New Mexican<\/a>. NMPolitics.net is paying for the rights to publish articles about the 2017\u00a0legislative session from the newspaper. Help us cover the cost by\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/donate\/\" target=\"_blank\">making a donation to NMPolitics.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque, said the measure would help New Mexico keep up with changing consumer preferences.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When we did the Clean Indoor Air Act, there was no such thing as vaping,&#8221; McSorley said, arguing it is time to update the state&#8217;s main anti-smoking law.<\/p>\n<p>A report issued last year by the U.S. Surgeon General said e-cigarettes are now the most commonly used tobacco product among youth, surpassing conventional cigarettes in 2014.<\/p>\n<p>Several states restrict e-cigarettes much like regular cigarettes, according to data compiled by the Public Health Law Center. California, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon and Utah prohibits the use of e-cigarettes wherever smoking is prohibited.<\/p>\n<p>But some Republican senators questioned whether vaping should be treated like smoking.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Cliff Pirtle, R-Roswell, argued the bill could be a step back for what he described as a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t really have enough on vapor to know if it is truly unsafe,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>And Republicans raised concerns about other sections of the bill that could change where restaurants currently allow customers to smoke.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nmlegis.gov\/Legislation\/Legislation?Chamber=S&amp;LegType=B&amp;LegNo=318&amp;year=17\" target=\"_blank\">Senate Bill 318<\/a> would redefine &#8220;indoor space&#8221; under the state&#8217;s main anti-smoking law to include patios and decks bounded on two sides by walls, effectively eliminating some existing smoking areas.<\/p>\n<p>Though similar proposals have died in past years, the opposition Tuesday was not enough to stop the bill. It heads next to the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n<p><em>Contact Andrew Oxford at (505) 986-3093 or <a href=\"mailto:aoxford@sfnewmexican.com\">aoxford@sfnewmexican.com<\/a>. Follow him on Twitter at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/@andrewboxford\" target=\"_blank\">@andrewboxford<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The state Senate voted 30-10 on Tuesday to restrict the use of e-cigarettes in public places much like other cigarettes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56542,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[3329,710,107],"class_list":["post-301850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-2017-legislative-session","tag-health","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}