Washoe County commissioners voted unanimously today to ban vaping inside county properties. Reno Public Radio’s Anh Gray reports.
A policy was implemented 13 years ago, which prohibited smoking cigarettes on county property. But with the popularity of vaping products like e-cigarettes, the county is updating that policy.
Kevin Dick with Washoe’s health district says there are no federal or state regulations right now.
“People can go into a store or into the county complex or into a restaurant," Dick says, "and there’s no law that prevents them from vaping.”
Dicks says e-cigarette aerosol can have an impact on public health.
“[With] vaping, there’s an aerosol that is exhaled, and studies have shown that that aerosol creates a second-hand exposure to people in that area to nicotine and to other harmful carcinogens," Dick says.
The health district plans to recommend outdoor areas for the county to include in the vaping ban.
