The subject of flavored e-cigarettes is in the news again as New York continues its eagercampaign against the industry.Queens City Councilman, Costa Constantinides, has introduced a bill which would limit thesale of flavored e-cigarettes to tobacco bars. He wants flavored e-cigarettes “to be treatedthe same way as flavored tobacco products and help prevent children from starting a lifetimeof addiction.”In reply to the planned legislation, Greg Conley, President of the American Vaping Association (AVA), said he supported “common-sense regulation of its products, such asNew York City’s existing ban on the sale to minors.”Now wait a minute, if a body like the AVA is coming out with statements such as that, thenwhy do politicians and health officials continually say that e-cigarettes are being targetedtowards minors?Conley continued: “Adults are free to make their own choices. This proposed law would notonly take away a consumer choice, it would eliminate a competitor to Big Tobacco.” He alsostated that if the law was to come into effect it would hurt the several vaporiums in the city.The proposed bill has been criticized by Tony Newman, Director of Media Relations for theDrug Policy Alliance. As far as he’s concerned if this legislation is passed it will simply leadto more people continuing to smoke.In a blog written for the Huffington Post , he says that “While I understand the concern ofmarketing e-cigarettes to young people and non-smokers, we cannot lose sight of the factthat these products are helping millions of people stop or cut back on smoking.”Regarding the many flavors of e-cigarettes available, Constantanides claims: “These flavorsare direct marketing to children. They appeal to children, and we're taking them out of thatmarket."That’s absolute rubbish and is countered by Newman who comments: “Vaping is a saferdelivery system for nicotine, and many people enjoy the flavor and find it pleasant -- that'swhy more and more people are turning to it. Do we really want to limit flavors if they arehelping people move away from smoking?It is ironic that anti-smoking advocates, whose goal is to get people not to smoke, areattacking a practice that is succeeding in getting people not to smoke. Shouldn't we beapplauding the fact that so many people are embracing this harm reduction practice?”Doesn’t Constantanides also wonder why dozens of health experts sent a letter to the WorldHealth Organization praising the product? They claimed that e-cigarettes “could be amongthe most significant health innovations of the 21st century, perhaps saving hundreds ofmillions of lives.”That’s a big statement, probably as big as they come but still politicians like Constantanidesgleefully make life difficult for the e-cigarette industry probably because it’s the in-thing to do.His ridiculous view on e-cigarettes as a way of stopping smoking is: “I’ve heard the argumentthat it’ll help addiction. I disagree. It just moves it to a different addiction. They’re being usedas a way to find new users, not to get people to stop smoking.”So why does he feel that e-cigarettes can do nothing to stop addiction to tobacco? Perhapshe should read a report by the Smoking Toolkit study that shows how useful they actuallyare in this area.Their report in June of this year showed more people using e-cigarettes as an aid tostop smoking. It also concluded that their evidence “conflicts with the view that electroniccigarettes are undermining tobacco control or ‘renormalizing smoking, and they may becontributing to a reduction in smoking prevalence through increased success at quittingsmoking.” New York politicians really do seem to dislike e-cigarettes. But shouldn’t they be spendingmore time looking at positive studies about the industry? If they did then perhaps thesepoliticians might act a little bit differently and not set out to make life so difficult. We can buthope I guess.