Smoking has long been banned inside public places. But with the emergence and surging popularity of electronic cigarettes, local public health officials are fielding a common question among business owners: What about vaping?
Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, are battery-operated devices that vaporize liquid nicotine, which is then inhaled by the user. The act of using the devices has been coined “vaping.”
Theresa Cross, a health educator for Clark County Public Health’s chronic disease prevention program, receives a few calls each month from employers, employees and the public asking about the legality of using e-cigarettes inside private businesses.
“The state smoking ban doesn’t cover these devices,” Cross said of e-cigarettes.
In December 2005, the Smoking in Public Places law (formerly the Washington Clean Indoor Air Act) went into effect, making it illegal to smoke in all indoor public places and workplaces in Washington.
That was before electronic cigarettes appeared on the market. The current state law does not prohibit e-cigarettes or vaping.
King and Grant counties have modified their local ordinances to prohibit the use of e-cigarettes anywhere cigarette smoking is prohibited. Clark County has prohibited the sale of e-cigarettes to minors but has not placed restrictions on their use by adults.
But that doesn’t mean business owners can’t prohibit vaping.
Some people have argued business owners can’t prohibit the devices because they’re not included in the state law. That, Cross said, isn’t the case.
“They don’t have to allow them if they don’t want to,” she said.
And public health officials encourage businesses to prohibit vaping anywhere smoking is prohibited for several reasons.
For starters, health officials worry the increased use of e-cigarettes will once again normalize smoking, especially among kids and teens, and threaten the declining smoking rates, Cross said. In addition, electronic cigarette use inside businesses can cause confusion if customers think a person is smoking a tobacco cigarette, she said.
Finally, the long-term health affects of the exhaled steam — both on those vaping and others in the area — is still unknown, Cross said.
“It is steam, but it contains other components,” Cross said. “We don’t always know how much is in it because they’re not regulated.”
Education effort
Clark County Public Health is now working to educate business owners about their rights regarding e-cigarettes.
The health department has long offered businesses “No smoking” signs for their windows. A couple of months ago, they updated the signs.
The green signs now say, “No smoking, including electronic cigarettes.” Health officials are offering the signs to any local business that wants them. They’re also distributing fact sheets, outlining business owners’ rights regarding e-cigarettes.
Russell Brent, owner of Mill Creek Pub in Battle Ground, has always prohibited the use of electronic cigarettes in his restaurant but never publicized the policy. He recently made the rules clear, placing one of the health department’s new signs in the restaurant window.
For Brent, the decision to prohibit e-cigarettes was an easy one.
The nicotine in e-cigarettes come in a variety of flavors, such as chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, cherry and mint. The steam users exhale still holds that scent and can interfere with other diners in the restaurant.
“If someone is smoking an e-cigarette, it’s going to affect your dining experience,” Brent said.
Brent hasn’t received any push-back over the policy. Most customers are respectful and take their electronic cigarettes out to the patio, just as they would with a cigarette, he said.
“In the restaurant business,” he said of the policy, “it’s a no-brainer.”
