LB 954 would prohibit local governments from having laws stricter than the Nebraska Clean Indoor Air Act
February 21, 2022 5:05 pm
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — A newly introduced bill would help vape shops in Lincoln, taking away any extra city ordinances they are currently dealing with, but health officials are not on board with the idea.
The Nebraska Clean Indoor Air Act currently makes it illegal to vape inside, except inside a vape shop. Currently, the City of Lincoln has an ordinance that’s stricter. It prohibits people from vaping even inside a vape store.
The bill in the Legislature would make it so cities couldn’t have stricter laws on vaping than the state has.
“I think it is paramount to be able to come in here and actually try the juice and try the product for yourself — make sure it’s something that you like,” said Timothy Goodman, manager of Lincoln Vapor LLC.
Lincoln’s ordinance means customers are unable to try a product before they purchase it.
“Who wants to spend over $20 to get something that then they are stuck with because it’s not really their cup of tea?” Goodman said.
He feels that if customers are able to try products, the shop may be able to sell more, bringing in bigger profits.
“There is a lot of people who have their regular flavor that they always get. They get it every time, but they kind of want to branch out, but they are always too scared to branch out. If they have the ability to try it, then yeah, we might move a little bit more, or someone might grab an extra bottle to take home with them,” Goodman said.
The president of the Nebraska Medical Association feels that vaping and the smoke emitted from these products are unhealthy and that others should not have to breathe it in.
“We believe that the vape aerosol is carcinogenic and therefore, people shouldn’t have to breathe it,” Dr. Dave Watts said.
Watts also feels that each community should be able to decide what is best for their citizens’ health.
“We feel, well, we are proponents of local control any way, but we feel that local communities need the flexibility to be able to respond to new research as it comes out. It’s already pretty significant research, which is why physicians and other public health people like the American Heart Association, American Lung Association, American Cancer Society, are opposing the bill,” Watts said.
But Goodman feels that having different laws in different parts of the state just makes things confusing.
“I think that having different regulations in one city compared to the next, and that goes for everything even outside of vaping (We had a mask mandate; Omaha didn’t have a mask mandate), it causes confusion. We do get a lot of out-of-town customers, especially at our location off of the highway there. It can be confusing. They come in, and they try to vape, and we are like no,” Goodman said.
Again, the bill would make it so cities couldn’t have stricter laws on vaping than the state has.
No immediate action has been taken by the Health and Human Services Committee. It must approve the bill before senators can vote on it.
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Originally Appeared Here