Rehoboth bans e-cigarettes on beach, boardwalk

Rehoboth Beach has joined Ocean City, Lewes and other municipalities by including e-cigarettes in smoking bans on the beach and boardwalk.

The city’s commissioners limited smoking in city parks, the boardwalk, bandstand and beach to designated areas last summer. On Jan. 16, the board voted 6-1 in favor of including e-cigarettes in that ban as well, with Mayor Sam Cooper dissenting.

The ordinance amending the smoking law listed several reasons for including e-cigarettes in the ban, such as uncertainty about how much nicotine or other potentially harmful chemicals are inhaled, and how much may be inhaled by bystanders.

“I questioned why we didn’t include them from the very beginning,” Commissioner Pat Gossett said.

Cooper voted against the measure, saying even if most residents were in favor of the expanded ban, without definitive evidence of a negative health impact for second-hand vapor, a ban is uncalled for. If there were evidence that second-hand vapor causes harm, he would be in favor of the ban, he said.

The measure went into effect immediately.

One member of the public spoke against the change, EFactor Vape owner Barrett Morrison. Morrison argued many people use e-cigarettes as a step down from regular cigarettes, which he contended are more harmful.

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