As lawmakers and health officials continue to wrangle with increased use of electronic cigarettes, some Longview restaurants say the devices already are treated the same as cigarettes and other tobacco products.
Danny Fisher, general manager of The Butcher Shop, said it is a smoke- and vapor-free business — for customers as well as staff.
"As far as we're concerned, (e-cigs are) just like a regular cigarette," he said. "We haven't run into any issues about it so far; everyone understands."
Kevin Richardson, owner-operator of It'll Do Deli, agreed, adding that patrons are welcome to use the outdoor deck area if they need to "vape up" after their meal.
"If they're outside, away from the door, and it's not something that's causing a problem for other customers, it's fine," he said.
Longview health officials are taking a closer look at e-cigarette policies.
City Environmental Health Manager Leisha Kidd-Brooks said that because her office has not received any specific policy direction on the issue, she's still in the information-gathering process.
"I am just gaining knowledge on the situation as it continues," she said. "The National Environmental Health Conference is now including seminars with the statistical data proving that both filtered and e-cigs contain the (same) exact amount of the formaldehyde compound."
But for now, Kidd-Brooks said, there have been no real regulations regarding this issue that she is aware of.
"I have attended several conferences that included seminars addressing the e-cig issue, on issues such as whether or not they are dangerous" she said. "However, there is currently no plan to propose amendments to city ordinances."
An ordinance banning smoking in public places was passed in January 2003 by the Longview City Council.
The ban prohibits smoking in public places but allows owners of stores — including tobacco shops, bars, food establishments, bowling establishments or bingo establishments — to allow a smoking section, provided it meets certain conditions. Smoking sections have to be less than 50 percent of the total square footage, physically separated from the nonsmoking section and independently ventilated.
Other cities
Gladewater requires restaurants to post notice that they allow smoking, and City Manager Sean Pate said only two do so.
"We do not have a nonsmoking ordinance," he said. "There aren't any current plans to update this at any time."It's a similar story in Gilmer and Kilgore.
Gilmer does not have an ordinance on e-cigarettes, City Secretary Kathy Hoover said, and there are not plans for the council to consider the matter Kilgore City Clerk Deborah Dane echoed that.
"We do not currently have an ordinance that addresses 'vaping' in the city limits," she said. "I'm not aware of any plans to examine this in the future."Henderson City Manager Tim Kelty said an ordinance against e-cigarettes is not in place, but that soon could change.
"After a recent survey in which there was public support for a more restrictive comprehensive smoking ordinance, we are working on updating our existing ordinance," he said. "Our ordinance currently prohibits smoking in publicly owned buildings and allows individual business owners to set guidelines for their own businesses — which the city will enforce under the ordinance."
In the meantime, Kelty said, he's not sure exactly what restrictions or scope a new ordinance might contain, "or if it will contain language regarding e-cigarettes."
Feds
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is wanting to extend its authority to regulate additional products that meet the legal definition of a tobacco product, such as electronic cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, certain dissolvables that are not smokeless tobacco, nicotine gels and waterpipe tobacco.
"When finalized, (the new rule) will represent a significant first step in the agency's ability to effectively regulate these additional tobacco products and the public health burden of tobacco use in this country," FDA spokesman Michael Felberbaum said.
The FDA regulates cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco and smokeless tobacco, and Felberbaum said under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009, the FDA can "deem" additional tobacco products to be subject to the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
" 'Deeming' will allow FDA to issue future regulations regarding these products, including regulations intended to reduce their harmfulness, if FDA determines that such regulations would be appropriate for the protection of the public health," he said. "To date, FDA has not been able to fully assess the public health impacts of unregulated tobacco products."
Federal health officials also are considering whether to require new warnings and child-resistant packaging on liquid nicotine formulas used with e-cigarettes and other emerging tobacco products.
The FDA said Tuesday that it is responding to an uptick in nicotine poisonings reported by emergency rooms and poison centers nationwide, many involving infants and children. The agency said it is considering whether "it would be appropriate for the protection of the public health to warn the public about the dangers or nicotine exposure" and "require that some tobacco products be sold in child-resistant packaging."
Liquid nicotine primarily is used to refill e-cigarettes, but the agency also has concerns about other novel tobacco products hitting the market, including dissolvable nicotine strips, lotions, gels and beverages.
Source: http://www.news-journal.com
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