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There’s not many details because it involves a minor, but it appears police in Sheridan, Wyoming are enforcing a new city bill which makes possession of electronic cigarettes by minors illegal. This has led to the citation of one teen simply for having an electronic cigarette in his or her possession.

You can read about the incident here.

There are a number of reasons that e-cig possession by teens has been outlawed in various cities and towns. For some, it is a effort to fight what they consider drug paraphernalia. For others, it is simply a fight against a new method of smoking which they believe to be just as dangerous as the real thing.

Unfortunately, town and city politics are rarely influenced by science and reason when it comes to anything remotely emotional in nature — as often are smoking, our kids, and drug use. It certainly doesn’t help that parent groups, public health groups, and anti-smoking watchdogs are out en masse to get these kinds of bans pushed though.

And while kids generally shouldn’t be buying e-cigs, it seems unlikely a teen would even be cited for possession of the far more deadly tobacco cigarettes. Point of fact, if a teen is using e-cigs who would normally be smoking instead, he or she is doing themself a favor (more on that here).

Cops citing teens for possession of e-cigs might just be ensuring that those same teens smoke instead.