SAN DIEGO – The San Diego County Board of Supervisors has amended the county code to include electronic cigarettes under its tobacco smoking ban, KSWB-TV reports. That prohibition includes all public buildings and parks in unincorporated areas.

While agreeing that e-cigs could be “a good tool to get people to quit smoking,” Supervisor Bill Horn also wanted the county to “protect the public, in public spaces” from the vapor.

Supervisor Ron Roberts added that the regulations were only intended to curb where e-cigs could be used, not forbid their use entirely. “If people want to use it to stop smoking, God bless them, but they're just not going to be able to do it everywhere,” he said.

A few months ago, the Board of Supervisors voted to fold electronic cigarettes under its Tobacco Use, Prevention and Cessation program. The new restrictions will become law in late June.

Across the country, more states and localities are changing the way electronic cigarettes can be sold or used. For example, New Jersey is considering taxing electronic cigarettes the same as cigarettes. On a national level, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it expected to release proposed rules on electronic cigarettes “very soon.” Meanwhile, NACS is urging retailers to treat e-cigarettes as any other tobacco product and follow appropriate age-restrictions when selling the product.