Milwaukee bans e-cigarettes in public spaces

Since lawmakers passed a statewide ban on smoking in 2010, cigarettes have all but vanished from Milwaukee's enclosed public spaces.

On Wednesday, e-cigarettes joined the club.

The Common Council unanimously passed a resolution that prohibits the use of e-cigarettes on city property and in public spaces. The legislation was sponsored by Ald. Michael J. Murphy and co-sponsored by Council President Ashanti Hamilton, Ald. Cavalier Johnson and Ald. Milele Coggs. 

If fewer people become addicted to this products, "I think the long-term health of our country and our city will be improved," Murphy said. 

The legislation represents the last piece in a three-part package aiming to increase public health by limiting tobacco use. The first measure, instituted last month by Municipal Court, increased the fine for selling tobacco to minors. It also raised the fine for retailers selling single cigarettes from $181 and $321, for first and subsequent offenses, respectively, to $691.

The second measure, passed by the Common Council in May, built on the first by banning the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. 

E-cigarettes, otherwise known as electronic smoking devices, heats nicotine-containing solutions to produce a "vapor" known as aerosol. Their use has skyrocketed among youth since their introduction to the domestic market in 2007.

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In 2015, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that more young people use e-cigarettes than regular ones. A 2016 CDC report found that about 17% of students use e-cigarettes because they think they are less harmful than more traditional forms of tobacco. 

According to Murphy, this is a myth.

"The best scientific evidence, whether it's coming from the School of Public Health, the surgeon general or numerous other case studies, show that e-cigarette smoking can be very dangerous to other people in terms of the particulates coming out of the product," Murphy said. "It's just not water vapor."

Although e-cigarettes do not contain tobacco, the U.S. surgeon general has identified potentially toxic chemicals within the liquid cartridges, including benzene, nickel and lead. Several studies have suggested the presence of formaldehyde, a dangerous chemical known to cause cancer in humans.