Chicago Seeking to Ban Electronic Cigarettes

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is seeking to ban e-cigarettes wherever smoking is prohibited.

November 26, 2013

CHICAGO – Fresh on the heels of a cigarette tax hike proposal of 75 cents a pack, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is seeking to ban e-cigarettes wherever smoking is prohibited and eliminate the sale of menthol and flavored tobacco products in a wider area around schools, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Working with two aldermen, the mayor is seeking to target products that he said lures teen smokers into a lifetime of addiction. Their first ordinance would regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco products and subject them to the city’s smoking ban.

As a result, the devices would be moved behind the counter of retail stores, with their sale to minors prohibited. Adults would be banned from smoking them in nearly all indoor spaces except private homes and vehicles, designated smoking hotel rooms, and at least 10 feet away from building entrances. The city would also license e-cigarette dealers.

Their second ordinance would ban the sale of menthol flavored tobacco products within 500 feet of Chicago schools, five times the existing radius.

The ordinances will be introduced at a City Council meeting today, during which the alderman are expected to approve the mayor’s 2014 budget, which includes the cigarette tax hike. The city will also launch a $338,000 campaign that warns about the dangers of menthol cigarettes.

“This is part of our overall strategy to address the impact of tobacco on youth. We’ve seen a decrease [in youth smoking], then a plateau. We really need to break that plateau,” said City Health Commissioner Dr. Bechara Choucair, who has called the tax increase a “life-saving measure.”

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