MONTGOMERY, AL (WDNews) — State Senator Gerald Allen, a Republican from Cottondale, has presented a bill that would outlaw vaping in public areas in Alabama.
The Alabama Clean Indoor Air Act of 2003, which forbids smoking in the majority of enclosed public areas, including as restaurants, shops, government offices, airports, banks, and hospitals, would be expanded by Allen’s plan. Violators will be fined $25.
The bill would expand the definition of smoking under the law to include using an electronic nicotine delivery system. Last year, Allen sponsored similar legislation, but it was unsuccessful.
After secondhand smoke was identified as a proven human carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency in the 1990s, Alabama passed a law prohibiting smoking in public more than 20 years ago.
Vaping indoors may expose nonusers to nicotine, but not the harmful combustion chemicals found in secondhand tobacco smoke, according to a National Library of Medicine study. More research on the negative health effects of secondhand nicotine exposure was recommended in the report, especially for vulnerable populations like children, pregnant women, and those with cardiovascular diseases.
In recognition of Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile, who worked for roughly six years to enact the original law, the bill would also rename the statute the Vivian Davis Figures Clean Indoor Air Act.
January 13 marks the start of the 2025 legislative session.
