Considering a job change? If you’re an e-cigarette smoker who enjoys vaping on the job, you might be surprised to learn companies are cracking down on the designations applied to e-cigarette smokers.
Giants like Wal-Mart and UPS are penalizing e-cigarette smokers in the same way as tobacco users. They’re hitting them where it counts - the wallet. Penalties for vaping, as e-cigarette smokers are called, include an increased health insurance premium as well as an official designation of ‘tobacco user.’
Tobacco users Pay a Higher Insurance Premium
Even if you switched from cigarettes (which are combustion based) to e-cigarettes (which are nicotine solution based), some employers are still saying, “No way,” to smoking on the job.
In 2010, the U.S. Air Force, along with other U.S. government services, banned e-cigarettes from employee use. Even while in depth research continues, most organizations are sighting the harmful side effects of nicotine as cause to call vapers tobacco users.
They go on to suggest that the e-cigarette cannot, in fact, be used as a cessation aid in the same manner as a nicotine patch or gum can. (Historically, higher premiums would not apply to anyone attempting to quit smoking.) Since e-cigarettes haven’t been FDA approved, they cannot qualify as a smoking cessation aid the same way other products do.
Likewise, many vapers hoping to lessen their cigarette smoking habits have still been considered tobacco users even if they’ve switched to e-cigarettes. The thought isn’t that e-cigarettes are a cessation product, but that not inhaling combustion chemicals is a healthy step in the right direction to quit smoking.
Examining the Controversy over eCigarettes
In reality, e-cigarettes only came onto the market in 2004. They weren’t widely available until 2007, either. They’ve gained in popularity in the last few years, with expected gross sales of $1.7 billion in 2013.
However, the FDA has yet to fully investigate the health effects of smoking e-cigarettes. A study done in June 2009 announced that laboratory analysis revealed some e-cigarettes contain harmful carcinogens and chemicals. But is it fair to treat vapers the same as tobacco users if the research still isn’t complete yet?
How Research will Affect eCigarette Smokers on the Job
In other words, if you’ve been looking forward to getting around smoking laws at work with e-cigarettes, you might have to think again. More and more employers are joining the ranks of those who consider vaping the same as cigarette smoking.
They won’t just apply the laws to their health insurance policies. They’ll also make vapers abide by legislation to take their e-cigarettes outside. The odorless e-cigarette could eventually be banned everywhere that tobacco cigarettes are currently
With the jury still out, it’s impossible to say if e-cigarette findings might actually end up benefiting the corporations currently opposed to them. While Wal-Mart might not like employees smoking on the job, they certainly can’t stop it.
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