Schaumburg to discuss a ban on e-cigarette sales

Schaumburg officials are considering banning the sale of vaping products in the village - and possibly their use in areas frequented by children - but may wait to see whether the state strengthens its own regulations first.

Trustees were poised Tuesday to ask the village staff to prepare an ordinance that could include a variety of restrictions on vaping products. But Trustee Brian Bieschke suggested deferring further discussion to the board's Nov. 19 committee of the whole meeting, after state legislators' fall veto session.

"I don't agree it would be in the village's best interest to ban the sale of all vaping products," Bieschke said.

His fellow trustees agreed to the delay, but not all were happy about it. Trustee Frank Kozak, who chairs the public safety committee where the idea of such a ban was launched, conceded the uncertainty but asked why the village should wait for Springfield or Washington, D.C.

"We have to start looking at how we can address these issues," Kozak said about vaping. "We have to make the point that this is the wrong thing to do."

Though 21 is the minimum age for vaping in Illinois, the school resource officer at Schaumburg High has issued nearly 30 citations for possession or use of e-cigarettes or vaping materials since the fall of 2018, Police Chief Bill Wolf said. Furthermore, many devices are confiscated by school officials and handled without police involvement, he added.

Among the 59 businesses licensed to sell tobacco products in the village, five are vaping-specific. But not all the rest are choosing to sell vaping products, though they are permitted to under their licenses, Wolf said.