What this means is that where smoking is prohibited in public places, such as a Putnam restaurant, bar, or school, using electronic cigarettes is also against the law.
“Protecting Putnam County residents is our highest priority. We are taking the lead here to protect our residents and visitors from the harms of tobacco,” said County Executive MaryEllen Odell,“ and the Health Department has already begun distributing ‘no-smoking-no-vaping’ signs to area establishments.”
In May 2015, the Putnam County Legislature voted unanimously to extend the County’s Clean Indoor Air Act legislation to include all vapor-producing devices. “The vapor from e-cigarettes is not benign,” said Dr. Michael Nesheiwat, Putnam County’s interim health commissioner. “It has fewer toxic ingredients than cigarette smoke, but that does not make it safe. Some research has shown that nicotine replacement therapy during pregnancy has adverse effects on the developing fetus, but most of the science so far focuses on the thousands of chemicals in cigarettes, not the nicotine present in both traditional and electronic varieties.”
Primary enforcement of the new code pertaining to vaping, as with cigarettes, is the responsibility of the owner of the establishment. Owners, landlords and other establishment managers are now expected to ask patrons to turn off e-cigarettes in the same way they would ask one to put out a cigarette, pipe or cigar. As with tobacco smoking, the Putnam County Department of Health can be notified to make a complaint.
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