DALLAS — Dallas is expected to consider whether to restrict vaping in public spaces like parks next week, according to a city council committee memo.
The Environmental Commission, which is a group appointed to advise the city council on environmental issues, recommended in May 2023 that the city restrict vaping in public spaces “after identifying the negative health effects of vaping aerosol exposure,” a city memo states.
“The American Lung Association, American Heart Association, World Health Organization, Center for Disease Control, and the U.S. Surgeon General warn that both direct inhalation and second-hand inhalation from electronic smoking devices have health risks, particularly for vulnerable populations such as children and elderly individuals,” the memo reads.
The city council’s Parks Trails and the Environment committee requested in March that the Office of Environmental Quality and Sustainability and the Environmental Commission recommend updating the city's smoke-free ordinance to include vaping.
Experts are still studying the potential effects of emissions from e-cigarettes on human health, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The full city council is expected to consider the issue on Dec. 11.
"An outdoor park, as long as you're being respectful of people and you're keeping your distance and you're not getting it in anyone's face," said Chris Self, owner of Trilogy Smoke, CBD & Vape Shop in Coppell. Self is a vape advocate who isn't surprised by the possible rule change. He also says this won't bother his clients who are used to being discrete anyway.
But we should mention banning vaping in a city park would include all of Fair Park and likely during the State Fair of Texas. WFAA has reached out to the city's Parks department for clarification on this to see if any ordinance change would also extend to the fair.
"I know they can do a designation area, I know they have a designation area for smoking," said Self.
The expected city council consideration of the issue comes shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court hears a case Monday weighing federal regulators’ decisions blocking sweet vaping products after e-cigarette use spiked among kids.
The high court is taking up an appeal from the Food and Drug Administration, which has denied more than a million applications to sell candy- or fruit-flavored products that appeal to kids.
