The Rehoboth Beach commissioners have banned electronic cigarettes from areas where smoking is already banned.

The measure passed 6-1, at the commissioners’ Jan. 16 meeting, with Mayor Sam Cooper the only no vote. Cooper said he did not support the measure because the fact that e-cigarettes look like real cigarettes is not a compelling reason to ban them. Cooper said he was unconvinced e-cigarettes cause the same health concerns as tobacco cigarettes.

The e-cig ban will apply to all city parks, the Boardwalk, Bandstand and beach. Commissioner Stan Mills led the charge, saying e-cigarettes looked like real cigarettes making them confusing for police officers to enforce. Mills said e-cigarettes had a negative effect on bystanders through the release of chemicals in the cigarette vapor.

That assertion was challenged by Dr. Barrett Morrison, owner of Efactor Vape, an electronic cigarette store on Route 1, who said e-cigarettes are effective in helping people quit smoking tobacco products. He said e-cigarettes also help reduce the harm of smoking and that the federal Food and Drug Administration has determined there is no proof e-cigs are harmful to other people.

“There is nothing that has been proven to show they are not safe,” Morrison said. Contrary to Mills’ assertion, Morrison said, there is no aerosol in electronic cigarettes.

“When you look at secondhand exhalation of an electronic cigarette, there has been no proven, no valid, proven indication there has been any kind of secondhand emission,” Morrison said.

He said another active ingredient in e-cigarettes, propylene glycol, is found in all sorts of products and is not deemed harmful.

After the meeting, Mills said, “Even though propylene glycol is FDA approved for use in some products, the inhalation of vaporized nicotine in propylene glycol is not. Some studies show that heating propylene glycol changes its chemical composition, producing small amounts of propylene oxide, a known carcinogen."

Commissioner Bill Sargent said there should be no smoking on the Boardwalk at all. He said the majority of people do not want e-cigarettes there.

Cooper questioned the city’s purpose in enacting the ban. He equated it to banning red Solo cups because they may contain beer.

“I really take exception to this idea that this is what the majority of the public wants,” Cooper said. “With a valid, documented health risk, I’d say 100 percent. I haven’t seen that. I don’t get it. I really don’t get it.”