Under the same statute that now prohibits smoking, a state senator from Alabama wants to make vaping illegal in public areas.
A bill to amend the 2003-passed Alabama Clean Indoor Air Act has been filed by Senator Gerald Allen, a Republican from Cottondale.
Smoking is currently illegal in the majority of enclosed public areas, such as restaurants, retail establishments, government offices, shopping centers, elevators, hospitals, assisted living facilities, airports, banks, and more.
A $25 fine may be imposed on violators.
Allen’s bill expands the legal definition of smoking to include using an electronic nicotine delivery system.
Last year, Allen introduced the identical bill, but it was unsuccessful.
More than 20 years ago, Alabama was among the last states to outlaw smoking in public areas.
That came after secondhand smoking was identified as a proven human carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency in the 1990s.
Vaping indoors may expose nonusers to nicotine, but not the harmful combustion chemicals present in secondhand tobacco smoke, according to a National Library of Medicine study.
The study concluded that more research is required to assess the health effects of secondhand nicotine exposure, particularly for vulnerable groups like children, pregnant women, and those with cardiovascular diseases.
For about six years, Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, a Democrat from Mobile, worked to pass Alabama’s Clean Indoor Air statute.
In Allen’s measure, his Senate colleague is acknowledged. The legislation would be renamed the Vivian Davis Figures Clean Indoor Air Act.
January 13 marks the start of the legislative session.
