COLUMBUS—In Columbus, the same no-smoking rules that apply to smoking cigarettes, cigars and pipes will soon include vaping.
At its Tuesday meeting, the Columbus City Council approved an amendment to the city's 2012 smoking ordinance, adding e-cigarettes and vape pens. The ordinance prohibits smoking in all indoor businesses, including private clubs and bars.
However, an additional amendment may be added later this year, allowing vaping inside vaping shops.
According to the proposal, an electronic smoking device means "any product containing or delivering nicotine or any other substance intended for human consumption that can be used by a person in any manner for the purpose of inhaling vapor or aerosol from the product. The term includes any such device, whether manufactured, distributed, marketed or sold as an e-cigarette, e-cigar, e-pipe, e-hookah, or vape pen, or under any other product name or descriptor."
Smoking, as defined by the amended ordinance, "includes the use of an electronic smoking device which creates an aerosol or vapor, in any matter or any form, or the use of any oral smoking device for the purpose or circumventing the prohibition of smoking."
Council members have become concerned over the increasing number of teenagers using e-cigarettes and vape pens.
Once given final approval, violation of the amended ordinance would carry a $50 fine.
