The Slatest

L.A. City Council Votes to Ban E-Cigarettes From Bars, Restaurants, Parks

A man enjoys an electronic cigarette at the Vapor Shark store on February 20, 2014 in Miami, Florida.

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

If the Los Angeles City Council gets its way, e-cigarettes will be banned from restaurants, bars, workplaces, parks, beaches and other public spaces. If signed into law by Mayor Eric Garcetti, the ban, which was agreed upon unanimously on Tuesday, will take effect in 30 days. E-cigarettes will still be allowed in so-called vaping lounges, a small concession for supporters of the nicotine devices.

The main concern, as has been, seems to be “vaping” as a gateway to smoking. Here’s the LA Times:

Council President Herb Wesson, in the most passionate speech of the day, described his decades-long addiction to cigarettes, a habit he told his colleagues would almost certainly kill him one day.

Wesson said he began smoking because he wanted to be cool.

“When you’re 15, you want to be cool,” he said. “And I will not support anything – anything – that might attract one new smoker.”

Yet, other lawmakers noted things could go the other way, with smokers using e-cigarettes to quit. In any case, the ban would add Los Angeles to cities like New York and Chicago that also restrict the use of e-cigarettes. As Bloomberg Businessweek notes, the future of the $1.5 billion e-cigarette industry, which remains unregulated by the FDA, does not look hot.