Duncan Hunter is a Republican congressman from California. He is a strong vaping advocate, known for his stance against the categorization of vaping products as tobacco products. He presented earlier this year a game-changing bill for the e-cigarette business in Congress.  “The Cigarette Smoking Reduction and Electronic Vapor Alternatives Act of 2024” aims at creating a new framework for vaping products to take them out of the FDA’s (Food & Drug Administration) jurisdiction.

He’s also known for having pulled out his e-cigarette and for vaping during a session in Congress to show that vaping is harmless and unduly demonized in the US.

Hunter protests the Holmes Norton amendment

And just recently, he did it again! He decided to protest an amendment sponsored by Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton by vaping. This amendment aimed at changing the definition of smoking in planes. The goal was to include “a device that delivers nicotine to a user of the device in the form of a vapor that is inhaled to simulate the experience of smoking”.

For Hunter, this definition was just wrong. Because there is no way to distinguish an e-cigarette that contains nicotine and one that does not. This is when he presented two different e-cigs, one filled with a nicotine e-juice and the other one filled with a nicotine-free juice. He then proceeded to take a puff to show there were no differences at all!

Unfortunately, this demonstration was unsuccessful. The panel decided to include Norton’s amendment in the aviation bill by a tight vote, 30 to 29.