Lee’s Summit City Council considering ban on vaping in public places

The Lee’s Summit City Council is moving to place a ban on vaping in public places. The ordinance will prohibit the use of vaping products at all places where the current Clean Indoor Air Act prohibits smoking. These include places of employment and enclosed public spaces — like restaurants, bars and retail stores.

Brian Head, city attorney for Lee’s Summit, says the statute will have exemptions — including places that sell vaping or tobacco products as well as hotel rooms designated as smoking rooms. It also does not ban legal private use.

“It does not try to regulate privacy. It does not apply to people’s private residences or their vehicles,” Head said.

The Lee’s Summit Health Education Advisory Board (HEAB) first recommended this type of ordinance for the city in 2015 when the Council approved a Tobacco 21 ordinance. That ordinance limits the purchase of tobacco products to people over the age of 21. Vaping products were included in those laws.

Head says the city felt the science was not as solid at that time on the ill effects of exposure to second-hand vaping.

“There are a number of studies now from around the world that show there are now particles in the vapor from second-hand vape that are injurious to health. That’s why we proceeded forward,” Head said.

Dr. Ed Kraemer, co-chairman of HEAB, says the group presented 16 studies in its proposal to City Council that support the science that people exhaling from the use of vaping products and e-cigarettes can release harmful compounds into the air.

“It is definitely a public health concern. It’s clear this is not a simply a water vapor that people exhale when they are vaping. It’s an aerosol, which actually contains a number of compounds, elements and particles — many of which are very concerning regarding public health,” Kraemer said.

While HEAB members have stood by a recommendation that the council bring public vaping laws in line with the local Clean Air Act for several years, they have not brought a specific recommendation to the council since 2015. Kraemer said since that time, the number of health organizations and scientific studies confirming the potential harm of second-hand vaping exposure has grown.

“There’s a vast and growing consensus on the issue,” Kraemer said.

Many people who vape are already honoring the spirit of the ordinance. The ordinance proposal points to a 2017 study that showed 88% of people who vape and live in a jurisdiction that prohibits vaping in indoor public spaces do not find it difficult to refrain from vaping in such places.

Lee’s Summit resident Keara Scott says she has been vaping for seven years. While she understands the concerns about the growing number of teens vaping, she wants to make sure people understand vaping can be very helpful for adults who have struggled with addiction to cigarettes and drug use.

“It got me off smoking cigarettes,” Scott said. “I found vaping around the time I was getting clean off of methamphetamine. This January 24, I’m celebrating five years clean.”

Scott contends the ingredients in the products she uses are much less harmful than smoking tobacco.

“I compare smoking to putting a campfire in your lungs,” she said. “You are burning leaves inside your lungs when you smoke tobacco. When you switch over to vaping, it is water based,” Scott said.

Scott says there is an element of stigma associated with vaping that already keeps her from doing so in public places. She notes vaping products are already taxed as cigarettes and sold with the same restrictions as cigarettes. She had assumed they were also banned for use in most indoor public places, and she generally already limits her vaping in those spaces.

“I thought is was already that way,” Scott said.

The City Council already had a public hearing on the ordinance in which most people spoke in support of the ban. The ordinance would not go into effect unless it is passed on a second reading.

Head says they do not yet have a timeline for rolling out the restrictions. Their focus is on education rather than penalties. He believes the transition will be without too many challenges.

“People have gotten accustomed to not smoking in public places. Most people are already not vaping in public places,” Head said.

Among the places exempt from this ordinance will be any medical marijuana facility as well as anyplace where the primary business is the sale of tobacco or vaping products.