Help California convince Governor Schwarzenegger to veto SB400

Kamanjah over at the e-cigarette-forum is leading the charge to convince Governor Schwarzenegger that SB400 should be vetoed. As she points out very well in her sample letter, originally this bill was about green energy and only green energy, then somewhere along the way all that got tossed out and it became about tobacco, to finally end up banning electronic cigarettes.

I urge everyone who support electronic cigarettes, particularly the citizens of California whose voices are really the only ones who matter to the governors office to send in a letter or call or email or fax him. Help get the word out that he should veto this bill. If he doesn't do anything by Oct 11th, it becomes law automatically even without his signature.

And hey, if you think e-cigs should be banned, send a letter too. Democracy in Action.

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Contact Governor Schwarzenegger online

or

Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-558-3160

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814

----------SAMPLE LETTER------------

September 19, 2009

Re: SB 400

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,

I am writing to oppose SB 400, initially introduced as an energy bill. From the original text: “44272. (a) The Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program is hereby created.” Seven amendments later, it ended up being a bill to ban electronic cigarettes. No reference to energy is even in the final version. “Energy: green vehicles” morphed into “tobacco.” Then, somewhere along the way, the electronic cigarette was defined as a tobacco substitute, next, that was stricken and the bill now will “authorize action to halt the sale, distribution, or offering for sale of electronic cigarettes…”

SB 400 will take a freedom away from the people of CA and should be immediately vetoed.

It is your responsibility to protect the freedom of thousands of Californians who have chosen the electronic cigarette (e-cig) as an alternative to burning traditional tobacco cigarettes. Allowing SB 400 to become law will drive many people who have become tobacco free back to using tobacco products. Ex-smokers will become smokers again.

E-cigs should remain on the market and legal for adults to purchase while complete testing is done and submitted to the FDA for approval. They are a reduced harm product and do not fall clearly into any category the FDA has set up for regulation. With technology comes innovation. Laws take time to catch up. Please do not put the e-cig into a black market status! The FDA will not be able to approve these without lengthy testing and research. To date, the FDA has not banned them. California law should not supersede the FDA without any evidence they do any harm.

E-cigs are a tobacco alternative and many choose them as a healthier way to deal with their nicotine addiction. They are not inhaling the 4000+ chemicals found in a burning tobacco cigarette. Existing NRT products have not worked for the people who are using e-cigs. E-cigs are keeping them away from burning tobacco.

Please veto SB 400. E-cigs, for many users, are the only thing keeping them away from smoking tobacco cigarettes. Please do not take this choice away!

Respectfully submitted,

Your Name Here