July 28, 2015
COSTA MESA - The city has begun the process of banning
vaping and electronic cigarette smoking in its public parks and city buildings
in a move designed to protect residents from secondhand “smokeless” vapor.
The Planning Commission approved the ban Monday as part of a
larger proposal that would lift a moratorium on hookah lounges and create rules
for how and where new smoking lounges could operate. The ordinance will head to
the City Council next Tuesday.
With the change, Costa Mesa would join 131 other California
cities and counties that have passed laws to limit the use of e-cigarettes as
of April, according to the Orange County Healthcare Agency. Anaheim, Garden
Grove, Seal Beach, Mission Viejo, Laguna Hills and Laguna Niguel all have
approved limitations.
Costa Mesa staff said the new ordinance was created simply
to update the city’s existing smoking laws to include e-cigarettes, which
vaporize liquid rather than burn tobacco. But other cities, such as San
Clemente, have taken a “wait and see” approach to the devices, opting not to
ban e-cigarettes, unsure whether secondhand vapor is as dangerous as secondhand
smoke.
Amy Buch, of the OC Health Care Agency, said Monday that
even though e-cigarettes don’t have combustible elements, they are still
harmful. She pointed out that the California Department of Public Health
declared e-cigarettes a health threat in January, when it released a report
saying the devices emitted cancer-causing chemicals.
“(Cigarette bans) have been to protect nonsmokers,” Buch
said. “Secondhand e-cigarette aerosol has been found to have at least 10
chemicals that are on California’s Proposition 65 list of chemicals known to
cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm... including nicotine,
benzene, formaldehyde, nickel and lead...(though) not to the same extent that
it would be in a traditional cigarette.”
Several vape shop owners and e-cigarette enthusiasts spoke
at Monday’s meeting. While most praised the city’s ordinance for not placing
burdensome restrictions on how vape shops can operate, they disputed the
narrative that e-cigarettes are harmful.
“Vapor products are not a nuisance or a threat,” said Doug
Hughes, co-president of the Southern California branch of the Smoke Free
Alternative Trade Association. “Instead, they should be viewed as the most
promising pathway to significantly reducing health care costs associated with
smoking-related illnesses.”
Scientific studies have split on the danger of vaping, as
well. Studies published in 2015 from the Public Library of Science ONE and
Tobacco Control journals found e-cigarette smoke may harm the respiratory and
immune systems. However, a July 12 study in the Toxicology in Vitro found
e-vapor no more harmful than air.
California has had a similarly difficult time deciding how
to treat the products. The state Legislature abandoned a bill July 8 that would
have regulated e-cigarettes like other smoking tobacco, barring vaping in
public places.
Costa Mesa’s proposed smoking lounge rules would allow
hookah and vape lounges in some commercial shopping centers, such as The
Triangle or Harbor Center, or in industrial properties. The ordinance would
prohibit the lounges from opening within 1,500 feet of each other and within
500 feet of schools and parks.
