Tupelo, Mississippi E-Cig Ban Debate

Less than a week ago, the Tupelo City Council agreed to postpone voting on adding e-cigarettes to the smoking ban ordinance, several council members say it’s time.

Most council members agree- electronic cigarettes will soon be illegal to use in public. “It seems to me like common sense,” said Councilman Buddy Palmer. “We already have a smoking ordinance in Tupelo.”

So far, at least three of the six councilmen say let’s vote now. Nettie Davis is the only council member to openly disagree. She wants to be better educated on the subject.

“I feel I need to look more into it,” Davis said. “I want to be very fair, and I want to do what’s best for the citizens.”

But Palmer plans to ask the council to vote on Tuesday, meaning smoke-free Tupelo could be vapor-free by the first week of September.

“I don’t think we’re trying to take anyone’s rights away,” Palmer said. “Simply, we just want to tell them where to use them and where they can’t use them, just like cigarettes.”

Here’s one problem: If it passes on Tuesday, people will no longer be able to “vape” inside vapor stores, such as Amaza-Vapors on Main Street.

The owner, Joseph Stone, said vaping inside the building is an intricate part of his store, and if they’re not allowed to do it, it could put him out of business.

In Stone’s business, people try the e-cigs before buying. “They’ve been able to come in and see the flavors that they like and match it up to what they had in a cigarette until they can start to quit,” Stone explained.

Voting now, without amending the ordinance, would make that illegal. “That means I’ll lose a lot of money, and the city will lose a lot of tax dollars,” Stone said.

Mayor Jason Shelton said he’s not opposed to including e-cigs in the smoking ordinance if evidence is presented that it’s dangerous to others.

But right now, he doesn’t believe the council or the city has had enough time to study the issue.

“I’m against taking away a freedom away without evidence proving it’s harmful,” Shelton said. “If you can’t tell me it’s dangerous, I think we at least need to study the issue.”

He also said if they are banned, accommodations need to be arranged to protect businesses that require vaping inside, like Amaza-Vapors.

That would require an amendment to the smoking ordinance, which Shelton would support.

He and several councilmen said if they amend the ordinance to accommodate vapor shops, the same would have to be done for cigar shops.

“We have to be fair to all the businesses, not just one,” Shelton said.

It remains unclear how the vote will go.

Councilmen Markel Whittington and Lynn Bryan said they support an e-cigarette ban, but they want to protect the stores that sell them first.