A proposed ban on electronic cigarettes in San Luis Obispo
drew local business owners, high school students, former smokers and health
officials Tuesday to lobby for and against the battery-operated devices that
have been gaining in popularity.
The San Luis Obispo City Council voted unanimously to
prohibit the use of electronic cigarettes anywhere that smoking is banned,
which includes most public places and workplaces.
Any businesses that sell e-cigarettes also will be required
to have a tobacco retailer license. In addition, the council decided that
retailers will not be allowed to permit smoking inside their businesses.
The new rules are scheduled to return to the council in
mid-March for final approval and would take effect 30 days later.
“It's not about what people do in their personal space,”
Councilwoman Carlyn Christianson said. “It's just saying that if you enjoy
doing it, then the city of San Luis Obispo would appreciate that you do that in
your private space.”
The council's action makes San Luis Obispo the first city in
the county to regulate e-cigarettes.
More than 40 cities in California have already taken similar
action.
San Luis Obispo has banned smoking in nearly all public
places since 2010, including sidewalks, parking garages, bars, restaurants,
stores, stadiums, playgrounds and transit centers.
Last year, 189 citations were issued for smoking in public
in the city, special projects manager Greg Hermann said.
The issue of e-cigarettes — also called vapes, vape pens or
e-hookahs — was raised during a council meeting last year, and the council
directed the staff to bring back regulations for consideration.
On Tuesday, council members heard from 17 people, with
comments fairly evenly split for and against the ordinance.
Supporters of the ban said e-cigarettes could expose people
to harmful secondhand health impacts; could appear harmless to teens and are
easy for them to access; and that allowing e-cigarettes could undermine
existing regulations regarding regular cigarettes.
“The problem that I have with e-cigarettes is they do not
smell like cigarettes,” said Winston Holyfield, a junior at San Luis Obispo
High and member of the school's Friday Night Live club. “And the fact that I
can't tell if I'm being exposed to that, it makes me worried. I'm worried that
there will be children exposed to this from a very young age. I don't believe
that is acceptable in a city such as ours.”
Opponents of the new rules said e-cigarettes have helped
many local people quit smoking traditional cigarettes and should be treated
differently. Some people said they don't use nicotine in the devices.
“I do non-nicotine vaping and find it to be a form of adult
chewing gum,” said Raymond Hanson, a San Luis Obispo resident and a co-owner of
The Sub. “We don't need another law on the books that confuses vaping with
smoking.”
Michael Kirkpatrick, owner of Stellar Vapes in Atascadero,
said e-cigarettes have helped many people who were desperate to quit smoking.
“If we were to really compare e-cigarettes to real
cigarettes anyone who did a little research would find out it's 99.9 percent
more safe than smoking cigarettes,” he said.
The
Food and Drug
Administration and the state health department, however, have
expressed concerns about the safety of the devices after testing found that
some contain toxins and carcinogens.
After the council's vote, another business owner said that
not allowing customers to sample various e-cigarette flavors in stores would
harm local businesses.
The council's action came after a brief discussion about how
“grandfathering” existing businesses to allow smoking in their stores would be
unfair to any new businesses which wouldn't be given the same exception.
“That's how we get people to stop smoking, by finding a
flavor they like,” said Graham Lovejoy, who owns vape shops in Atascadero and
Grover Beach.
