BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - Advocates for the vaping industry continue their push to end what they call "misinformation" about the dangers of using e-cigarettes and to convince Governor Andrew Cuomo not to ban flavored vaping products.
The governor is seeking to ban flavored e-cigarettes due to health concerns and because of their targeting of young people. Last month, he proposed that the ban be made as part of the budget in April.
The vaping topic was discussed at Demand Vape, a Buffalo-based wholesaler of vaping products. Co-owner Jon Glauser is worried that a state ban on flavored vaping products would force the unemployment of approximately 200 workers at his business, plus hundreds more in the region.
"There's been a movement in the scientific community to fight back against this misinformation," Glauser said.
Glauser and Giambra cited a piece featured in The Lancet, a medical journal that said the "inaccuracies and misinformation" about e-cigarettes do a major disservice to evidence-based public health. The article is calling for debates on e-cigarettes to be based on evidence and rational debate.
Glauser said his business follows all the regulations followed by the FDA and said the state should wait for assessments by the federal government before making any policy decisions at the state level.
Giambra claimed the governor is motivated by politics in his call for the ban.
"What the governor is doing is not only misleading the public and twisting the facts, he's outright lying about the impact that this product has on the overall public health," Giambra said. "He's suggesting this product had something to do with the unfortunate deaths that occurred not only in New York State but across the country."
The Lancet article was signed-off on by Dr. Maciej L. Goniewicz, an Associate Professor of Oncology at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Goniewicz declined additional comment for this story, though the organization's Chair of Health Behavior, Andrew Hyland, released the following statement regarding vaping.
For now, Giambra said he is continuing conversations with lawmakers in hopes they will not follow through on the governor's budget proposal. However, he did not rule out a lawsuit.