A new ordinance banning electronic cigarettes in public areas in the city of Austin will go into effect on Monday, July 3.
The Austin City Council voted to add e-cigarettes to the list of tobacco products banned in public places such as parks, city buildings and restaurants in June.
Council Member Ora Houston sponsored the resolution. “Austin Public Health has indicated for some time now about the public health benefits of not smoking. Period. And not smoking e-cigarettes, vaping,” she said. “People will come in to a restaurant where you can’t smoke and then they will vape and think that’s OK.”
Austin joins a list of 10 states and hundreds of cities that have prohibited e-cigarette use in the same places where smoking is already prohibited. Last September, the city of Round Rock amended a smoking ordinance, banning e-cigarettes from indoor public places. In June 2014, the city of San Marcos banned smoking-including e-cigarettes inside bars, restaurants and businesses. Georgetown did the same three years ago.
The penalty for violating Austin’s smoking ban is a fine up to $2,000.
(Information from KXAN.com)
