It soon might be illegal to use you e-cigarettes in public places where regular smoking is prohibited, according to a city ordinance proposed by Councilwoman Constance Scott.
The proposal follows a similar ordinance passed in Delray Beach last month.
Councilwoman Scott said she was at an outdoor concert when she got a whiff of some e-cigarette emissions, which convinced her that Boca Raton ought to follow Delray’s example.
“We are responsible to our citizens to do everything we can to protect them,” she told the Sun Sentinel.
Scott said she has been downwind from e-cigarette users, and it wasn’t pleasant.
“Until the research has been done to determine they are not harmful (to those who are in the vicinity of e-cigarette users), I don’t want the residents exposed to potentially unhealthy carcinogens,” Scott told the Sun Sentinel.
According to The American Heart Association, emission from e-cigarettes exposes nonsmokers to nicotine and several potentially toxic organic chemicals.
The CIty of Boca Raton already prohibits cigar and cigarette smoking at some of its parks and sports fields.
The proposal by Councilwoman Scott will not prohibit smoking in private residences, retail tobacco shops, designated guest rooms, stand-alone bars or other places where smoking is allowed.