City Council Wants to Ban E-Cigarettes in Restaurants

On Wednesday afternoon, the City Council announced a plan to add e-cigarettes to the city's 2002 Smoke-Free Air Act. If passed, this piece of legislation would ban the cheesy-looking nicotine vaporizing devices from public places, including bars and restaurants. This new bill is being introduced by Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Council Health Chair Maria del Carmen Arroyo, and Council Member James F. Gennaro. From the statement about the proposed ban:

E-cigarettes which contain nicotine, the addictive ingredient in tobacco, as well as other unknown substances now threaten the progress we've made and we must take decisive and immediate action. Because e-cigarettes are designed to look like cigarettes, they pose a problem to business owners and threaten effective enforcement of the Smoke-Free Air Act.

In a new post on the New York Hospitality Alliance site, the group's executive director, Andrew Rigie, reports that "very few restaurants or nightlife establishments have a formal e-cigarette policy" right now. For more on how the restaurateurs of this city are reacting to the e-cigarette trend, check out Ryan Sutton's Businessweek report on the subject from earlier this fall.
· NYC Will Try To Ban E-Cigs In Bars, Restaurants, Public Places [Gothamist]
· Political Foodie: E-Cigarettes [NYCHA]
· All Coverage of E-Cigarettes [~ENY~]
[Photo: NYC Hospitality Alliance]