Ban e-cigs on planes? Congressman vapes in protest

WASHINGTON – Rep. Duncan Hunter drew a deep breath and blew a cloud of opposition Thursday at a proposal to ban electronic cigarettes on airliners.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., proposed in the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to add the ban to legislation setting Federal Aviation Administration policy. She said the prohibition would complement the 30-year ban on cigarettes in airline cabins as a health risk and the ban against stowing electronic cigarettes in checked baggage cargo because of fire concerns.

But Hunter, R-Calif., who uses a nicotine vaporizer to help him and others quit smoking, said they shouldn't be prohibited on planes.

“There is no burning. There is nothing noxious about this whatsoever,” Hunter said. “This is the future.”

The committee approved Norton's amendment on a 33-26 vote, a margin that Norton said surprised her. Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Mass., coughed loudly before voting support of the provision.

Even without smoke, several members said the vapors are often scented and unpleasant. A lawmaker sitting next to Hunter waved away the cloud from his vaporizer.

“I don’t think we want to have clouds of vapor inside the aircraft," said Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., a leader in the debate to ban cigarettes aboard airliners decades earlier.

But Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., opposed the amendment because lawmakers were trying to regulate moist air. He argued that lawmakers would next try to ban hot air, bad breath and body odor.

“Are we really going to go there?” Shuster said to laughter. “I’ve been on the floor before talking to some of you, and I’ve had to take a step back.”