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Most of those who testified in opposition to the proposed ban were vapers who have quit smoking. Several of them choked back tears as they told of smoking-related health problems for themselves and family members that have diminished now that they’re vaping. “The day my mom died, I swore to her I’d quit. And now, two years later, I can say I’m smoke free,” said Amy Stevens. “If you can’t smoke in restaurants and bars, it won’t devastate me, I’ll continue to vape. “But if there is a place I can go and they say, ‘Yes, we have these four tables over here where we’ll allow you to do it,’ that will be a place where I will go. That’s where I will take my husband on our date nights. It will allow us to go out and stay away from the smokers.” Stevens’ husband, Ben, among others, testified that vaping had “saved my life.” Emerging science The science around vaping, however, is unclear. One thing that is clear is there has been a more than 880 percent increase in the number of North Carolina kids who have tried vaping since 2011. But the U.S. has been slow to regulate the liquids used by vapers. The contents of the liquids vary widely, complicating research. Rob Tarran, director of the Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science at UNC-Chapel Hill, told the board that his researchers have found e- cigarettes have “significantly different effects in the lung.” “These changes appear consistent with immune compromise, so an increased chance of getting infections,” Tarran said. Tarran also drew a comparison between the testing performed on medicines, such as asthma inhalers, and e-cigarettes, noting medications have to undergo “rigorous toxicology and clinical testing” before being released onto the market. In contrast, the liquids used in e-cigarette devices have had none of this sort of scrutiny. “Their effects for inhalation are largely unknown,” he said, both for people vaping and those around them. It was this uncertainty that eventually won the evening. “Because the science is new, because the science is emerging, because there’s lots of disagreement about the science, I would feel more comfortable if we looked at what the Surgeon General had to say about the science surrounding e-cigarette use,” Bridger told the board after all the presentations were done. She reminded the board that the only thing they were allowed to consider in their decision-making process is the scientific evidence. “Let some national vetting of this science occur before you take any action,” Bridger said.