County supervisors in Santa Clara County, California will meet on Tuesday to discuss enforcing smoking laws for electronic cigarettes.
Use of the device would be outlawed at county buildings such as health-care facilities, with a 30-foot no-puff zone around doors, vents and windows, according to Mercury News. E-cigarette use would also be banned in county vehicles.
County officials say that e-cigarette users could disrupt the policies that have led to the change in social norm surrounding tobacco use, SanJoseInside reported. The county said that smoking in public advertises the devices in ways that have been restricted for cigarette and other tobacco products for years. They also said that re-normalizing smoking can harm children and teens, who are vulnerable to the advertisements of e-cigs with fruit and candy flavors.
"You are now witnessing smoking behaviors in public spaces that have been smoke-free for most, if not all, of their life," states a memo introduced by Supervisor Ken Yeager, which will go before the Board of Supervisors next week. "You are also being exposed to e-cigarette advertising on television, something that has been prohibited for decades for traditional tobacco products."
The staff report stated that over 100 cities and counties in the U.S., over 40 in California, have enforced restrictions on e-cigarettes. The device is battery-operated and heats up a liquid, which sometimes contains nicotine, into a vapor that looks like smoke, and is inhaled and exhaled by the user, Mercury News reported.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned that health risks for e-cigs have not been studied, and that the device contains carcinogens. The device has been sold as a healthier and safer alternative to regular smoking, featuring an infusion of cannabis, tobacco or just the flavor. The smoke produced is water vapor that evaporates in seconds. However, health officials are concerned that the device can lead to addiction, even if the vapor is tobacco and cannabis-free, SanJoseInside reported.
The county will look into the option of including e-cigarettes in the official definition of smoking, SanJoseInside reported. The county will then report on how to enforce new regulations.
