Fremont City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to extend a temporary moratorium on e-cigarette retail stores, lounges and vapor bars that was put into effect at the council’s Feb. 11 meeting. The 22- month and 15-day extension was given in order to provide staff with additional time to adequately study the issue before coming back to council with a recommendation on the city’s stance on e-cigarettes.

Fremont has joined cities across the Bay Area in studying the effects of electronic smoking devices. The city of Milpitas voted unanimously this Tuesday as well to ban e-smoking devices near playgrounds and city facilities and to restrict sales of e-cigarettes to those 18 years old and older, as the city already does with traditional tobacco cigarettes.

California law prohibits the sale of e-cigarettes to minors, but neither state nor federal law restricts the use of e-cigarettes, so it is falling on local governments to decide whether or not to allow the use and distribution of e-cigarettes in their city.

Approximately 60 cities in California require retailers to obtain a license to sell e-cigarettes including Richmond, Albany and Oakland. Hayward has placed a moratorium on e-cigarette lounges and vapor bars to allow further study to determine if and how to regulate e-cigarettes. Union City, on the other hand, passed an ordinance in November 2013 banning e-cigarette bars, lounges and vapor bars within its city limits.

Fremont staff members asked for the extra time to analyze the potential impacts of such new uses and determine if modifications are needed to the city’s zoning ordinance or other sections of the municipal code, as well as to review existing studies and data on e-cigarette use and review regulations adopted by other jurisdictions.

Owners of some of the eight establishments that currently sell electronic cigarettes or “e-cigarettes” in Fremont, four of which opened in the last eight months, vocally opposed the moratorium at the Feb. 11 meeting, but were absent at this Tuesday’s meeting. The moratorium does not prevent existing establishments from continuing to operate.

E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices intended to emulate smoking a cigarette which allow the user to inhale vapor without producing fire, smoke, ash or carbon monoxide. They are usually designed to resemble traditional cigarettes and the liquids vaporized by the e-cigarette may contain nicotine, other chemicals, and flavoring, but do not contain tobacco.

Electronic cigarettes come in many shapes and prices, ranging from the disposable types that can be purchased at convenience stores for a few dollars and resemble real cigarettes to the more complex vaporizers sold at “vapor stores,” which can be hundreds of dollars, according to the staff report.

The health effects of inhaled vapor, with or without nicotine, and second-hand vapor are unknown. However, the Food and Drug Administration conducted a limited analysis that found that e-cigarettes do contain carcinogens, including nitrosamines, and toxic chemicals such as diethylene glycol used in anti-freeze, among other issues, according to the staff report.

E-cigarette retailers insisted at the Feb. 11 council meeting that e-cigarettes were a kind of treatment for people who smoke tobacco.

Councilmember Raj Salwan said after the Feb. 11 meeting that he was worried that the e-cigarette flavors such as bubblegum and chocolate would mislead youth to use them, thinking that they are harmless.

There was no public comment or council comment at this Tuesday’s meeting.

Contact Aliyah Mohammed at amohammed@themilpitaspost.com or 408-262-2454 or follow her on twitter.com/Aliyah_JM. Visit us on our social media sites at facebook.com/FremontBulletin and twitter.com/FremontBulletin.