§ 12-51. Findings.

The City Council of the City of Pine Bluff does hereby find that:

(1)

Numerous scientific studies have found that tobacco smoke is a major contributor to indoor air pollution;

(2)

Reliable scientific studies, including studies by the Surgeon General of the United States and studies commissioned and assessed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, have shown that breathing sidestream or secondhand smoke is a significant health hazard to nonsmokers by increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease, and lung cancer, that children have an increased risk of asthma, respiratory infections, sudden infant death syndrome, developmental abnormalities, and cancer, and to the elderly or others with compromised immune systems;

(3)

Health hazards induced by exposure to environmental tobacco smoke include lung and other forms of cancer, respiratory infection, decreased respiratory function, decreased exercise tolerance, broncho-constriction and broncho-spasm, and that the most common cause of premature death from environmental tobacco smoke is heart disease;

(4)

Reliable scientific studies assessed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have found that sidestream and secondhand tobacco smoke is a leading cause of premature death and disability among nonsmokers;

(5)

Air pollution caused by smoking is an offensive annoyance and irritant. Smoking results in serious and significant physical discomfort of nonsmokers in public places and work places; and

(6)

It is within its basic police powers to implement and enforce the provisions of this article.

(7)

Electronic smoking devices, commonly known as "electronic cigarettes," "e-cigarettes," "e-cigars," "e-cigarillos," "e-pipes," "e-hookahs," "electronic nicotine delivery systems," etc., are battery operated devices designed to deliver nicotine, flavor, and/or other substances through a vapor inhaled by the user; and

(8)

Use of electronic smoking devices has increased significantly in recent years; and

(9)

Existing studies on electronic smoking devices' vapor emissions and cartridge contents have found a number of dangerous substances including:

Chemicals known to cause cancer such as formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, lead, nickel, and chromium;

PM2.5, acrolein, tin, toluene, and aluminum, "which are associated with a range of negative health effects such as skin, eye, and respiratory irritation," neurological effects, damage to reproductive systems, and even premature death from heart attacks and stroke;

Inconsistent labeling of nicotine levels in electronic smoking device products; and

In one (1) instance, diethylene glycol, an ingredient used in antifreeze and toxic to humans.

(10)

More than one (1) study has concluded that exposure to vapor from electronic smoking devices may cause passive or secondhand vaping; and

(11)

The World Health Organization has strongly advised consumers against the use of electronic smoking devices until they are "deemed safe and effective and of acceptable quality by a competent national regulatory body"; and

(12)

The World Medical Association has determined that electronic smoking devices "are not comparable to scientifically proven methods of smoking cessation" and that "neither their value as therapeutic aids for smoking cessation nor their safety as cigarette replacements is established"; and

(13)

A study published in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health suggests that electronic smoking devices "may have the capacity to "re-normalize" tobacco use in a demographic that has had significant denormalization of tobacco use previously"; and

(14)

Electronic smoking devices often mimic conventional tobacco products in shape, size, and color, with the user exhaling a smoke-like vapor similar in appearance to the exhaled smoke from cigarettes and other conventional tobacco products; and

(15)

The use of electronic smoking devices in smoke-free locations threatens to undermine compliance with smoking regulations and reverse the progress that has been made in establishing a social norm that smoking is not permitted in public places and places of employment; and

(14)

It is the intent of the Pine Bluff City Council in enacting this section, to provide for the public health, safety, and welfare by prohibiting the use of electronic smoking devices; by protecting the public from exposure to secondhand by products of electronic smoking devices; by facilitating uniform and consistent enforcement of smoke-free air laws; by reducing the potential for re-normalizing smoking in public places and places of employment; and by reducing the potential for children to associate the use of electronic smoking devices with a normative or healthy lifestyle.

(Ord. No. 6142, § 1, 6-6-05; Ord. No. 6569, § 1.a., 4-3-17)