Electronic cigarettes, commonly referred to as e-cigs, stand in legal, medical and social limbo as researchers, the government and the public try to get their heads around just what these devices really are.
There is currently a request for Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine to declare whether e-cigs fall under the 2006 Smoke Free Workplace Act, which bans smoking cigarettes in public, enclosed places.
Until that ruling is made, it is at the discretion of restaurant and bar owners to allow e-cigs or not.
In Athens and on Ohio University’s campus, the use of e-cigs is seemingly acceptable — for now.
As OU contemplates implementing a campus-wide tobacco ban, Vice President for Student Affairs Ryan Lombardi said the university hasn’t decided whether to also ban e-cigs.
“That level of detail is yet to be determined in the initiative,” Lombardi said.
Some Uptown bars are still figuring that out too.
Steve Van Fleet, owner and manager of Pawpurrs, 37 N. Court St., said he is unsure if he would ask someone using an e-cig in his bar to stop smoking or to leave the bar. “I’d have to see if it offended somebody,” Van Fleet said.
Other establishments that recognize that there is no tobacco in electronic cigarettes have decided their use is okay.
“(Customers are) welcome as long as you’re not smoking real cigarettes,” Sean Roach, a bartender at The C.I., 32 N. Court St, said. “As long as they’re not making it smell in here or offend anyone, it’s OK with us.”
As far as government regulation goes, Ohio lawmakers are grappling with e-cig policies as well.
Currently in Ohio, electronic cigarettes are regulated differently than tobacco products and can legally be purchased by those younger than 18.
But Ohio House Bill 144, introduced this spring by Stephanie Kunze, R-Hilliard, would change that by preventing minors from obtaining what the bill calls “alternative nicotine products.”
Some, cautious about the bill, say youth-prevention laws might not be enough to keep nicotine products out of the hands of minors.
“The devil is in the details and we have concerns with the language of the bill,” said Jeff Stephens, director of federal and state policy for the American Cancer Society in Ohio. He added that the tobacco industry is trying to divert attention away from laws that health advocates say more effectively deter smokers.
Critics also say some language in the bill could be used to reduce taxes on e-cigs.
Similar legislation was passed in Oklahoma and within a year of its passing, the language in the code was used to exempt certain products from taxes, Stevens said.
For example, a $5 pack of cigarettes would be taxed at a rate about 25 times higher than a “vapor product.”
Even with all that going on, e-cigs are good sellers and are popular with “mostly college kids,” Sam Bren, assistant manager of Twilight Boutique, 86 N. Court St., said.
“It gives you a really thick smoke,” Bren said. “It’s really good to do O-rings and other smoke tricks.”
ld311710@ohiou.edu
@LucasDaprile
