by By Michael Smothers – July 30, 2015

Electronic cigarettes can help smokers quit the real things, their supporters say, yet are marketed to lure a new generation into nicotine addiction, say their critics.

Those arguments are shrouded in the smoke of debate that’s rising with the e-cigarette business nationwide. For adults in Pekin and most of Illinois, however, at least one general point will stand clear this year:

In public, you can vape wherever you like.

The General Assembly has effectively shelved a bill introduced last February to place electronic smoking devices (ESDs), both e-cigarettes and similar devices known as vapes, under rules of the Smoke Free Illinois Act of 2007.

The law prohibits smoking tobacco in public indoor places and within 15 feet of their doors. Its goal is to protect non-smokers from the dangers of second-hand smoke.

The exhaled “vapor” of ESDs is filled with far fewer dangerous chemicals than cigarette smoke, the bill’s opponents argue. While that may be true, it’s not water-based vapor users breath out, but nicotine-laden aerosol produced by the ESD’s battery-powered heating coil.

While the bill awaits a possible rebirth next year, there is no movement in Pekin to follow the lead of Chicago, which placed ESDs under Smoke Act restrictions in 2014, said city attorney Burt Dancey.

“We’re waiting for the state to act — we were expecting it,” he said.

No complaints have come to City Hall about ESD vapors in bars or restaurants, Dancey said. “People seem to be pretty conscientious” about others’ concerns and, as with cigarettes, have seemed to pick up the habit of stepping outside.

The Tazewell County Health Department, meanwhile, is planning a presentation on the downsides and potential dangers of ESDs for high school students and parents.

ESD opponents, including the American Lung Association, argue that the tobacco industry — which supplies nicotine in liquid form for so-called vaping — is using marketing ploys to lure teens, including candy- and fruit-flavored e-liquids that contain nicotine.

According to a major health agency report, 2 million teens, or about 13.5 percent nationwide, used ESDs in 2014, up from 4.5 percent in 2013.

Nicotine — no matter how it’s delivered to the body — is prohibited among students who attend schools, such as East Peoria Community High School, that require random urine tests to participate in extra-curricular activities, said health department spokeswoman Sarah Sparkman.

“But we want to make sure parents know the (vaping) devices can be used for other substances,” Sparkman said. “We’ve heard marijuana oil is in the area and people are vaping it.”

Joe Bruner, co-owner of the Everything Vape store in Creve Coeur, said he hasn’t heard that rumor, but he knows and respects the current laws regulating his business. A sign on his counter clearly tells any would-be customers under 18, barred from purchasing nicotine in any form, to leave.