Question: I work in a small store. One day, as I approached a customer, he blew out a puff of vapor from an e-cigarette and left quickly. I encounter many users who impart the slogan, "It’s not smoke, it’s vapor. You’re welcome." Often with a bit of attitude, as if I should actually thank them. I know it’s not smoke, but it’s not welcome. What do you recommend saying to someone that it’s rude, while not driving them away as a potential customer?
Answer: The state Department of Health’s Tobacco Prevention and Education Program is willing to help businesses deal with e-cigarette smoking, including offering a sample policy prohibiting the use of e-cigarettes and other "electronic smoking devices" in smoke-free places.
While there is no state law regulating e-cigarettes, individual businesses and property owners are allowed to set their own policies.
Because they now come in a "plethora of forms," and to be consistent with the law, the Department of Health refers to e-cigarettes as "electronic smoking devices, or ESDs," said Lila Johnson, program manager of the Tobacco Prevention and Education Program.
"Until the safety of ESDs has been scientifically demonstrated, we are concerned about their use and those who may be involuntarily exposed," she said. "Our position is that ESDs should not be used anywhere where smoking is prohibited."
Johnson said her office has "an abundance of resources on ESDs, including a sign that businesses and organizations can use that says, "No Smoking Including E-cigarettes And all Other Electronic Smoking Devices."
Also available is a fact sheet on "Electronic Cigarettes in the Workplace," produced by the National Business Group on Health, which Johnson said "validates the latitude that private employers/businesses have in restricting ESD use by employees or customers."
On Jan. 1 the Department of Health created its own policy on ESDs.
The policy was approved by two labor unions, "and the director’s signature of approval was one of the last acts by Loretta Fuddy before her untimely death (following a plane crash off Molokai in December)," Johnson said.
You can contact the Tobacco Prevention and Education Program by calling 586-4613.
Question: I had a wonderful visit to Hanauma Bay recently with family visiting from the mainland. The staff and volunteers were knowledgeable and hospitable, and the lifeguards attentive. The structures blend in beautifully with the landscape. That said, something needs to be done about the mongooses that take over the trash receptacles as soon as the snack bar closes at 5 p.m. I saw seven to eight mongooses climbing in/out of uncovered trash cans and a few more running into the foliage along the walkway. How about changing to trash cans like the ones the city is installing along the Ala Wai Canal to discourage the growing rat population? Or, just requiring lids to be affixed to the trash cans?
Answer: The mongooses at Hanauma Bay are minor celebrities, highlighted in photos and even a couple of YouTube videos on the Internet: www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-zELopcoJ0 and www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mlQLfpl28A.
The city Department of Parks and Recreation says the Department of Enterprise Services manages food concessions in city parks.
That department spoke to the Hanauma Bay concessionaire and reminded them to empty all trash receptacles at night before they close and to make sure no food is left in the receptacles overnight, said Toni Robinson, outgoing parks director.
Trash will continue to be taken to the dumpster in the commercial parking lot, she said. "The concessionaire will also check into use of trash can lids."
MAHALO
To the Hanauma Bay staff. My son lost his student ID at Hanauma Bay one weekend. Someone from the staff was nice enough to mail it to the school. Happy we live in Hawaii! — Grateful Mother
Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
