E-cigarettes to be banned at most indoor workplaces starting July 1
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
TALLAHASSEE (FOX 35 ORLANDO) - Starting July 1, workers will have to resist the urge to pull out an e-cigarette in most workplaces.
Florida's Clean Indoor Air Act (FCIAA) will be updated to prohibit the use of e-cigarettes, or "vaping," anywhere smoking is already prohibited.
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The ban is a result of a voter mandate supported by nearly 70 percent of Florida voters last year. Amendment 9 adds a prohibition on using electronic smoking devices in most indoor workplaces to the state's Constitution.
"We are facing a youth e-cigarette epidemic, and the July 1 update to FCIAA is a long overdue and critical modernization of our constitution. Adding a prohibition on using e-cigarettes where smoking is already prohibited will protect Florida's workers, visitors and families from the potentially harmful chemicals present in the aerosol generated by these devices," said Heather Youmans, senior director of government relations for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) in Florida.
In 2018, about 25 percent of Florida high school students reported current use of e-cigarettes. That is a 58 percent increase compared to 2017.
"Florida has always been at the forefront of tobacco prevention and has seen steady declines in youth cigarette smoking, but dramatic increases in using e-cigarettes among teens has threatened to reverse that trend," continued Youmans. "Adding e-cigarettes to Florida's Clean Indoor Air Act helps ensure the enforcement of existing smoke-free laws are not compromised by the current e-cigarette epidemic and that the public health benefits of smoke-free laws are not undermined."
The new law still allows vaping at private residences and several places including stand-alone bars, retail vape shops, and designated hotel rooms that allow it.