News

E-cigarettes a complication in enforcing smoking ban

Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Lincoln Journal-Star

Lincoln's Health Department director is worried the growing popularity of electronic cigarettes could undermine ban on smoking in bars and restaurants.

Electronic cigarettes are legal in bars and restaurants because they operate on batteries. They are turned on, not lit. And they produce vapor, not smoke.

So they fall outside the state and local smoking ban definitions, said Director Judy Halstead during a meeting Tuesday of the Board of Health.

That means a vigilant bartender has to check every table where someone is smoking what looks like a cigarette, she said.

After a while, staff may get frustrated and say, "I'm not going to chase that anymore," she said.

The department has had wonderful compliance with the city's smoking ban, Halstead said. But it is hard to stay vigilant when people can use one thing that looks like a cigarette but not another, she said.

Policing a large crowd becomes challenging. "It is easier when you know that everything is a cigarette," Halstead said.

The Health Department is hearing complaints about people smoking e-cigarettes in businesses, Halstead said. It is getting calls from businesses that want to ban e-cigarettes.

And it is getting calls from bar owners frustrated by trying to sort out cigarette smokers from those puffing on e-cigarettes, she said.

But the Health Department is not recommending bans on e-cigarettes because there is not enough information on health effects, Halstead said.

"The jury is out on the nicotine replacement value of e-cigarettes," Halstead said. "Some people swear by it as the only way they moved off of tobacco."

No one knows whether there is a health risk with e-cigarettes, and no one knows whether there is a problem with second-hand vapor, she said.

Because there are no known health risks, the City Council would have little rationale for including e-cigarettes in the smoking ban, said Councilman Doug Emery, who is on the Health Board.

State law banning the sale of tobacco products to minors also doesn't cover e-cigarettes, most of which use no tobacco but do deliver nicotine.

State senators, however, may consider banning the sale of e-cigarettes to minors during next year's legislative session, Halstead said.

http://journalstar.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/e-cigarettes-a-complication-in-enforcing-smoking-ban/article_22aee497-8939-5138-8da7-72b391e80bad.html

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