Boise Takes Next Step Toward Vaping Ban

When Boise passed its smoking ban in 2011, it didn't have enough research about the effects of vaping to add e-cigarettes and vapes to the ban. Eight years later, that's changed.

Do you cringe when you sit down at a bar or restaurant and the next thing you know, your personal space is covered in a big white cloud that smells like watermelon or pancakes?  It's coming from the person sitting next to you, puffing away on their vape like its no big deal.  I get it.  I do.  My husband started vaping when he gave up smoking years ago and is occasionally that person.  He's not obnoxious about it, but I still turn bright red and get super embarrassed when a manager tells him its not allowed in their restaurant and he continues to do it anyway.

We'll probably have fewer of those moments in the near future.  Last night, Boise City Council unanimously approved the first reading of a ban that would make vaping illegal in the same places that the 2011 Smoke-Free Air Ordinance made smoking illegal.  According to the Idaho Press, some of those areas include bars, private clubs, near public transportation, commercial patios accessible to kids, the Grove Plaza and 8th Street. Parks and areas within 20 feet of the Greenbelt also fall under the ban.

Although the first reading of the ban was unanimously approved at last nights meeting, it won't go into effect until a final reading in the coming weeks/months.

Unlike the smoking ban approved in 2011, there was a great deal of public support for the vaping ban. Which side of the fence do you sit on?