Montana's Lake County Bans E-Cigarette Use In And Around Public Buildings

In Montana’s Lake County, it is now against the law to use an electronic cigarette (e-cig) in a workplace, enclosed public space, or within 25-feet of any such building.

The new resolution banning e-cig use in public buildings and workplaces across the county was passed by the Lake County Commissioners on January 17, 2018.

While it was within the rights of business owners to ban the use of e-cigs in their businesses prior to the passing of the new ordinance, it’s “a lot more comfortable” for business owners to tell customers that they can’t vape inside of their businesses because of the ordinance than it is to tell them it’s because of the owner’s own personal preference or policy, according to Lake County tobacco prevention coordinator Lynette Duford.

“It’s a lot more comfortable for the business owner to say it’s a county ordinance.”

As a result of the recently approved ordinance, Lake County is now the sixth county in Montana to enact a ban on e-cig use in public places.

In New York, vaping in public spaces has been banned not on a county level, but on a state level – making it illegal to vape in public places anywhere in the entire state. This statewide vaping ban was signed off on by Governor Andrew Cuomo last October. And in countries like Malaysia, Singapore, and Brazil, it’s banned on a countrywide level. Surprisingly to some, the liquid nicotine used in e-cigs is even banned in Australia.

In Thailand, an elderly Israeli couple was arrested and fined last month after they were caught traveling with an electronic cigarette. E-cigs have been banned in the country since 2014.

Meanwhile, some governments are actually endorsing the use of electronic cigarettes as smoking cessations that may help some smokers quit.