Editorial: Palatine turns up the volume on vaping and public health

A Palatine village council member has added a new and important dimension to discussions about vaping. Tim Millar suggested that the village explore forbidding the practice in indoor businesses and public places, and administrators say they could have an ordinance ready for consideration later this year.

Good for them - and possibly good for all people who work, shop and play in Palatine.

Vaping is not an entirely new activity, of course. But already research is emerging to show that, especially when used with nicotine products, it can have damaging effects on the health of both vapers and the people around them.

Communities are wise to consider regulating the practice now, perhaps helping stem its growth and certainly acting before it may become more common and thus more difficult to control.

Millar cited reports of increases in oral cancer from vaping and worried about the risks of secondhand smoke.

"It (vaping) takes nicotine, so it's not healthy by any stretch of the imagination," Millar said in a report by our Bob Susnjara.

Nor does it take much stretch of the imagination for Illinoisans to remember what shopping, working, eating, drinking and many other indoor activities were like for nonsmokers and smokers alike before institutions and eventually governments began prohibiting smoking indoors. Indoor atmospheres are much safer and more pleasant today, and leaders are wise to want to keep them that way.

Millar's reflection came in the context of a village review of whether to increase to 21 the age restriction on the sale of vaping products.

At least seven other suburbs - including Aurora, Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove Village, Gurnee, Mundelein, Naperville and Vernon Hills - already have approved the tighter restriction on both vaping and tobacco smoking, which ought to send a message to Gov. Rauner as he weighs whether to sign legislation passed by both houses that would create the Tobacco 21 standard statewide.

Palatine will certainly amplify that message if its leaders approve the ban, and hopefully, it will be loud enough for the governor to hear and respond accordingly.

Then, Palatine can take the discussion to a new level by exploring a prohibition on vaping indoors.

Numerous organizations such as the American Lung Association, American Heart Association, Respiratory Health Association and others are working with authorities at the local level to get the message out on the health risks of vaping, especially for young people, who are a frequent target of vaping marketers. Turning up the volume by focusing on the safety and comfort of public places can only help these efforts.