WINTHROP — The Town Council this week expanded the existing ban on smoking and other tobacco use at the Winthrop Town Beach to include new smoking technologies such as electronic-cigarettes.
Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, are battery-powered devices that allow users to inhale vapor containing nicotine. Using them is known as “vaping” and it has remained legal in many public places because it does not release the secondhand smoke typically associated with cigarette use. But it does release nicotine and other chemicals that are coming under increased scrutiny.
The council approved the ban in a 7-0 vote after hearing a presentation from Joanne Joy, executive director of Healthy Communities of the Capital Area, a regional substance-abuse prevention group. In the same vote, the council also agreed to revisit an ordinance that governs what can be done on town property, with an eye toward creating a broader smoking policy.
In her remarks to the council, Joy cited several reasons for considering a ban on vaping at the beach. While tobacco companies market e-cigarettes as a healthier alternative to smoking and a way to quit using regular cigarettes, Joy said there is little research about their health effects.
Electronic cigarettes are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, meaning it is not possible to know how much nicotine they contain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But bystanders can inhale the nicotine that is released when people are vaping nearby.
Joy also pointed to a study that shows e-cigarette use has been growing among children and said allowing them sets a bad example.
“The intent is really to protect youth” and others who may be exposed to the secondhand vapor, Joy said of the ban.
In the fall of 2015, state lawmakers passed a law that put electronic cigarettes into the same category as traditional cigarettes, which already were banned in public spaces such as restaurants and museums.
The passage of that law followed a 2014 decision by Portland to ban vaping in public spaces.
Besides approving the ban on electronic cigarette use at the town beach in a 7-0 vote, the council also agreed to examine whether to expand the town’s public property rules to include smoking and vaping bans.
Charles Eichacker can be contacted at 621-5642 or at:
ceichacker@centralmaine.com
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