You have to wonder sometimes if politicians actually think about the consequences of theiractions. While Americans celebrated Thanksgiving Day, Bloomington put into operation anordinance that really is a turkey.A city ordinance went into effect that bans the use of e-cigarettes in public places . Amazinglythis actually includes the city’s two vapor shops Smokeless Smoking and E-CIG One StopVape Shop. It’s like telling someone that owns a brewery that they can’t drink any alcoholthere. It really does take your breath away because who’s actually going to get upset ifsomeone actually uses an e-cigarette in a vaping store? Surely the people who are in thatstore are users of e-cigarettes already or are looking at beginning to use the product?Bloomington used to be “All the businesses that can fit” but this new law is going to seriouslyaffect the two vapor shops in the city. The crazy ordinance states that customers must be atleast 25 feet away from the front door of the business in order to test any of the products.Why 25 feet, does vapor suddenly disappear after travelling that far?Violators of the ordinance will have to pay several hundred dollars in fines and could gettheir licenses suspended for multiple offenses. How do you enforce such a law anyway, willthere be officials standing outside the vapor store keeping an eye out for a shocking incidentwhen some unreasonable person uses an e-cigarette just 24 feet from the door?Nathan Affield is a long-time employee of Bloomington vaping store Smokeless Smokingand he knows just how useful e-cigarettes can be to the citizens of Bloomington. He spenteight years poisoning his body with tobacco cigarettes but has given up that deadly habitsince turning to e-cigarettes. Speaking about the ordinance he said: “We make sure to graba couple that you want to try since you've got to make a bit of a trek.”He now fears that with this new ordinance he may be forced back to being with tobaccosmokers after working so hard to give the terrible habit up: “If we're forced to go out into asmoking section to use our vaporizers next to people who are using harmful cigarettes, that'ssomething that we got away from and now we're being pushed back into it.”I guess the intelligent politicians in Bloomington never thought of that when they decided topass this ordinance. But they’re not the only ones in the States who are intent on pushingthrough such regulations. The City Council in Minneapolis also jumped on the bandwagonon Friday but as is the case at present, they have a slightly different law than that imposedon the unfortunate citizens of Bloomington.In Minneapolis there was an amendment passed that will include the allowing of samplinginside e-cigarette stores. "Our intention is to allow sampling there just like we allow samplingof cigars and cigarettes in other types of shops," said Minneapolis city council member CamGordon, a sponsor of the ordinance.Jennifer Swanson owns E-CIG One Stop Vape Shop last year and just like Nathan, sheused e-cigarettes to stop smoking tobacco. Now this new ordinance will make life difficult forher business. She says: "We were just really hitting the peak and now the ban went intoeffect."Already Smokeless Smoking has gathered more than 1,000 signatures on a petition but theBloomington City Council has no intention of passing the law seen in Minneapolis. So whyare the politicians in Bloomington so upset about e-cigarettes? The answer is an easy one;you see they just don’t know what they are talking about.When the ordinance was passed in November, this ridiculously inaccurate statement wasmade. “The proposals before you today are not groundbreaking. They are common sense,”said Molly Moilanen, representing a coalition of health organizations including ClearWayMinnesota, the American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society and the AmericanHeart Association.Yet the fact is they are damaging businesses in their own city. Angie Griffith, who co-ownsseveral e-cigarette retailers in Bloomington and other cities, said the ordinance would harmher business and its 25 employees. “We’re not Big Tobacco,” she said. “We’re a thriving,responsible small business.”One council member even went down the old route of saying that using e-cigarettes is agateway for young people to start using tobacco. Now they obviously don’t do muchresearch on the topics they have to vote on. Only last week there was a study publishedthat shows using e-cigarettes isn’t a gateway to smoking tobacco.However data from the Office for National Statistics in the UK indicate those who use e-cigarettes are almost entirely current or former smokers.The survey found that e-cigarettes were mainly used to help smokers quit, and becauseusers saw them as being less harmful than cigarettes. Let’s hope that all the politicians andhealth officials read this survey and take note that their criticisms are way off the mark.Dr Penny Woods, Chief Executive of the British Lung Foundation says: “These data shouldagain alleviate the fears expressed by some over an e-cigarette gateway effect - peopletrying e-cigarettes before moving on to the much more harmful practice of smoking.”But still the politicians pass their unwanted and unneeded rules. A vote on the kstp.comwebsite shows that only 43% agree that e-cigarettes should have the same restrictions asregular cigarettes. Actually 7% of those taking part in that survey voted for the “I don’t knowenough about it” option, it’s good to see local politicians taking part in online surveys.Because the way they act on e-cigarettes show they haven’t a clue when it comes to theproduct.