E-Cig Bans Are Premature

New federal rules around electronic cigarettes that ban sales to minors and require disclosure of ingredients are practical and necessary for the increasingly popular smokeless devices.

But local laws banning the use of e-cigarettes in every place where smoking is prohibited, such as restaurants, bars or within 20 feet of entrances, are a premature overreaction.

Recently, Lakewood and Fort Collins applied their public smoking restrictions to e-cigarettes. Golden, Louisville, Commerce City, Durango and many other cities are planning on doing the same.

There is no dispute around the harmful effects of smoking tobacco or the problems associated with secondhand smoke.

Research has yet to conclude secondhand inhalation from vape equipment has ill effects that should be the basis of public vaping bans.

A German study that looked at whether e-cigarettes cause “passive vaping” found virtually no quantifiable levels of the 20 volatile organic compounds present in cigarette smoke.

Part of the problem for e-cigarettes is that the user may appear to be smoking, which is why cities are enacting regulations similar to tobacco.

Private businesses should be allowed to prohibit vaping and the practice should be banned from government facilities. The U.S. Department of Transportation banned vaping in 2011. Amtrak also has prohibited it.

But bars, restaurants, bingo halls, concert venues and bowling alleys should be allowed, for the time being, to permit the practice if they want, unless further research proves the activity dangerous to the non-vaping public.