Another Oklahoma town will consider e-cigarette ban
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The city of Tahlequah, in the hills of eastern Oklahoma, is considering a ban of use of e-cigarettes on public property. With the issue scheduled to come before the city council Monday, text of a proposed ordinance is not yet set in stone.
Fans of electronic smoking devices, e-cigarettes and similar products say they can support a ban on sales to minors — those under 18 — that would leave adults free to choose.
After recent passage of bans on electronic products in Ada and Shawnee , critics have pointed out a link between ordinances banning e-smoking products and emerging grant funding streams from the state Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, a state government entity created by voter referendum originally intended to fight tobacco use.
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In an interview with Oklahoma Watchdog, Shawn Gore, chairman of the Oklahoma Vapors Advocacy League, said he has been encouraged that some local officials are open to an approach that treats non-tobacco products for adults differently than tobacco.
Gore said city officials have draft language that would limit sales of “vapes” to adults without enacting a wholesale ban on use of electronic smoking devices for adults on public property. Other alternatives would create limits on indoor use of such devices without lumping them into a strengthened total ban on indoor use of tobacco in public settings.