Dennis RomeroTonight is the last night to get your vape on in a club, restaurant or bar in the City of Los Angeles.
An ordinance that will treat e-cigarettes like regular ones, including no-vaping rules at parks, beaches and some office buildings, goes into effect right after the clock strikes midnight, the L.A. City Clerk's office tells us.
See also: L.A.'s E-Cigarette Ban Is Gonna Happen (Very Soon)
There has been talk of trying to overturn the ban with a referendum, but it's too late now:
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Max Wu, a co-owner of the VapeDay lounge in South Carthay isn't too worried about the ban, however. He thinks it will be hard to enforce:
“How they'll regulate it, we're not sure,” he told us. “It will likely be up to the discretion of the business owners.”
He also said that the ban will only help sales, making e-cigarettes more enticing to rebellious people.
“Business is good,” he said. “This will only make vaping more popular.”
Fans of e-cigarettes, which heat a nicotine-and-propylene glycol liquid that results in vapor, argue that the devices are much safer than tobacco-burning, carcinogenic cigarettes and that they provide an excellent gateway for people who want to stop smoking.
See also: Corey Feldman Wants L.A. to Reverse E-Cigarette Ban
Proponents also say the scientific jury is still out on whether the vapor itself or second-hand vapor is harmful.
Credit: Courtesy VapeDay
Those arguments, however, were ignored or rejected by the L.A. City Council, which first weighed the ban in December. Wu:
We feel like the lawmakers should get the facts before they rush to ban. We're all for regulation, but it needs to happen with proper information.
He says VapeDay will be participating in a “last vape” event tonight at Cindy Club in Koreatown, where there will be giveaways and contests.
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