Political Science

The Vermont Department of Public Safety has established a policy to reduce fire accidents caused by cigarette fire. Under this policy, all cigarettes are in the state of Vermont are supposed to comply with standards that were set in 2006 called reduced ignition propensity. All cigarettes on sale or distribution in Vermont are supposed to be made such that they stop burning even when left unattended (Vermont.gov, 2008).

Policy impacts
This policy is a positive move towards reduction of deaths caused by cigarette fire. The community is favored by this policy as there would be no more worries over cigarette fires while the consumers of cigarettes would still have their smoking needs met. It should be hailed by the community seeing that deaths from cigarette fire have been in the top list of fire death as from 1995 to 2004 (Vermont.gov, 2008). It is however unfortunate that some members of the public complain that making fire safe cigarettes is adding poisonous substances in the cigarettes (Topix, 2008).

To ensure that this policy is adhered to, the administration of the Vermont Department of Public Safety has had to mandate the Division of Fire Safety to be approving cigarettes as per this policy. This means that the administration must enhance its monitoring of all cigarettes in Vermont to make sure that these guidelines are adhered to. It is also the responsibility of the division of fire to inform the public on the importance of having fire safe cigarettes and enlighten them on the note that no harmful substances are added.

In essence, the fire safe cigarette is a positive policy that ensures that the public is safeguarded from fire accidents and deaths while still leaving smokers to continue enjoying smoking.