Illinois bill would add e-cigarettes to indoor smoking ban

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Smokers who favor electronic cigarettes could be pushed outside under an Illinois lawmaker's proposal.

State Rep. Kathleen Willis wants the use of e-cigarettes, called vaping, to be subject to the same laws that prevent indoor smoking in public places, the (Springfield) State Journal Register (http://bit.ly/1FXtCBO ) reports.

The Democrat from Addison is sponsoring a bill that would extend the state ban on indoor secondhand smoke in public places to the electronic devices, which are marketed as a safer alternative to smoking.

The measure, if it becomes law, would amend the Smoke Free Illinois Act of 2007 to include e-cigarettes. Theatrical productions and shops that sell the devices would be exempt.

Willis said it took a long time to prove secondhand was dangerous and that the public does not know "what the long-term health effects are."

The devices work by heating oil with nicotine in a breathable vapor. The smoker exhales a cloud of vapor that looks similar to other types of smoke.

Widespread scientific research has not been performed on e-cigarettes and available studies have produced conflicting results. The World Health Organization recommended in October that states ban the use of e-cigarettes until more testing can be done, saying most testing so far has not be performed by independent researchers.

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The bill is HB2404.

Online: www.ilga.gov

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Information from: The State Journal-Register, http://www.sj-r.com