One Hartford city councilor is proposing a ban on vaping in public and raising the age limit to buy the devices.
There are quite a few shops in the city that sell vaping products and e-cigarettes. Currently, you can buy the devices if you’re 18 or older, but if a proposal by Hartford City Councilman Larry Deutsch goes through, buyers would have to be at least 21, and avoid using the products in public in the capital city.
“I don't think they should raise the age limit. I think the age they have now is good,” said 19-year-old Qasian Banks.
Banks said he started vaping last year, but if the proposed ordinance goes through, he’ll be too young to purchase the product in Hartford.
Deutsch said his proposal to up the age and the public ban is based on recent studies.
“Same reason you ban cigarettes. It's a health hazard,” he said.
A study published in the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics reports that e-cigarette vapor may be less hazardous than tobacco smoke, but that “e-cigarettes contain additives and solvents, including propylene glycol and/or glycerol, which can form carcinogenic compounds when heated. These and other toxic chemicals may be inhaled through the vapor produced.”
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Deutsch said what’s most important is to raise awareness and get people talking about it.
“This is the city all we can do is try to protect the health of people in the city,” he said.
At the Songbirds Vape and Smoke shop in West Hartford, manager Alex Keenan uses an e-cigarette to quit smoking traditional cigarettes, and said at least half his customers have the same motivation.
“I was smoking since I was 13, and I just bought this six months ago. And I haven't bought a pack of cigarettes since,” he said.
He said while he thinks upping the buying age to 21 is a good idea, he is opposed to the idea of a public ban.
“Maybe in a confined area like a restaurant or something like that but a big park or something, I don't see a problem with that. That seems silly,” he said.
