E-cigarettes have been banned in Laramie for over a month now, and the economic impact of the ban is starting to become apparent.
On Oct. 14 the city of Laramie passed an ordinance that amended the city’s regulation on smoking in public places to include electronic cigarettes as well.
Amanda Pittman, co-owner of Steam Vapour Co., said that she not concerned with the ordinance, but rather the grounds on which the ordinance was passed. She said that the use of electronic cigarettes does not cause the same health effects of traditional cigarettes.
“The risk behind vaping for second hand users is completely negligible, this is jumping the gun, this is a knee jerk reaction, this is equating with something that it looks like,” Pittman said. “It looks like smoking, so it must be smoking, it’s based on false assumptions.”
Pittman said that even with the ordinance her business is exploding, commenting that maybe any publicity is good publicity.
She said that she is frustrated that people who are trying to quit smoking by vaping are being marginalized.
“It’s a safer alternative to smoking that enables users to get their nicotine that is not going to kill them,” Pittman said.
She said that vaping allows smokers looking to quit to wean themselves off of nicotine, which she says is among the least harmful things in cigarettes.
Tiara LeCheminant, a UW senior studying psychology, said that she picked up vaping to quit smoking cigarettes. She says that the ordinance is a case of erring on the side of caution.
“I can understand the caution, but I think it’s unnecessary, the risk of exposure is much lower,” LeCheminant said.
She said that the ordinance is fine, because it can still be considered a public nuisance, but wishes that bars would allow indoor use of e-cigarettes. LeCheminant said that there is still risk to vaping.
“Breathing anything other than clean air, is probably not as healthy for you, I’m not claiming that this is completely safe, and that there are possibilities that it’s not good for you, but for people who are quit smoking this is a great alternative,” said LeCheminant.
Spencer Culver, sophomore studying communications, said that the ordinance overall a good thing since it’s better to just avoid making people uncomfortable in public places.
“It’s a decent precaution for the city of Laramie to take just because it can be uncomfortable for some people, maybe there are health concerns and plus it’s not really that big of a deal for someone to just walk outside to vape,” Culver said.
He says that maybe after more concrete information about the potential health effects comes out, that the ordinance can be amended again.
