Indoor Vaping Ban Take Effect Next Month Thanks To Local State Senator

SPRINGFIELD, IL — A statewide ban on indoor vaping takes effect next month thanks to a measure sponsored by a local lawmaker and signed into law earlier this year.

State Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Lake Forest) was the chief senate sponsor of House Bill 1540, an amendment to the Smoke Free Illinois Act, the 2007 law that banned smoking in public places.

The bill was approved this spring with state representatives voting 85-22 and senators voting 42-11 in its favor. Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed it into law in July.

Morrison's bill adds e-cigarettes to the definition of banned tobacco products and updates regulations for retailers to include those who primarily sell vapes rather than smokable tobacco.

“E-cigarettes, in all of their many forms, continue to be one of the most addictive products readily available for purchase in gas stations, vape shops and online,” Morrison said in a statement.

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“We have made solid progress toward de-normalizing the perception of tobacco, and I am proud that on Jan. 1, e-cigarette usage will be banned indoors,” she said.

Morrison previously sponsored measures to raise the minimum age to buy tobacco products to 21, according to her office. Last year, she passed a bill to restrict the marketing of e-cigarettes to minors.

Kristina Hamilton, the Illinois advocacy director of the American Lung Association, said the expansion of the Smoke-Free Illinois Act to include vaping will reduce the harms caused by e-cigarettes.

"Secondhand e-cigarette aerosol contains harmful and potentially harmful chemicals," Hamiton said. "The use of e-cigarettes has skyrocketed in recent years with tobacco companies targeting teens and young people with enticing flavors.”

Last month, Evanston became the first municipality in Illinois to ban the sale of all flavored tobacco, including e-cigarettes and menthol. And, last week, the mayor of Lake Forest told representatives of a high school civics class lobbying for local vaping restrictions that the City Council had no interest in pursuing them.

Related: Mayor Snuffs Out Vape Ban Proposed By Local High School Students