By NITZ ARANCON

Correspondent

THE scientific debate is still ongoing on the exact effects of vaping but the chairperson of the city council’s health committee wants the e-liquid vaporizers banned in the city for good.

Councilor Ma. Lourdes Gaane, a phyisician, said she was studying how e-cigarettes could be outlawed in the city.

Gaane said this after being told by Dr. Jocelyn Torrecampo of the Department of Health in Region 10, that there was no way of ascertaining the safety and efficacy of e-cigarette products. Torrecampo said even the World Health Organization (WHO) has no scientific evidence to show that the vaporizers are safe.

Gaane said that Dr. Torrecampo told the health committee last week that e-cigarettes were more dangerous to the health than cigarettes. The basis for this supposed pronouncement remains unclear.

Gaane said the proposed ban on e-cigarettes could be made by amending a city ordinance against smoking or the so-called 2008 Smoke-Free Cagayan de Oro Ordinance.

“Gusto nato nga ang pag-ban sa e-cigarette ma-include sa atong existing Smoke-Free CdeO Ordinance,” she said.

E-cigarettes are not tobacco cigarettes but are hand-held electronic devices that vaporize propylene glycol- and/or glycerine-based liquids with flavorings to produce mists, allowing vapers to mimic smokers. Some e-liquids contain small amounts of nicotine.

Gaane said the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has released an advisory that there is no proof that e-cigarettes can be used for nicotine replacement therapy.

“The e-cigarette… does not contain nor combust tobacco. It has lithium ion rechargeable battery, vaporizer with a micro chip heating element which helps to vaporize the liquid. The mouthpiece cartridge contains a liquid nicotine solution… within an atomizer. The e-liquid has varying concentrations of liquid nicotine. So with this reason, it is very clear that e-cigarettes are more harmful because of the chemical content of a common cigarettes,” Gaane said.

Gaane said if a ban on e-cigarettes would not be possible, then she would settle for strict regulations on vaping because she was worried that it could adversely affect people’s health.