Measure To Regulate E-Cigarettes in Chicago Stalled

Opposition in the City Council

A measure to regulate increasingly popular electronic cigarettes in Chicago in the same way as tobacco products ran into City Council opposition and went nowhere Monday despite the support of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and a powerful alderman.

A mayoral plan to push menthol cigarette sales farther away from Chicago schools got a preliminary aldermanic endorsement, however. Flavored cigarettes, including menthols, could not be sold within 500 feet of schools under a measure Emanuel backs as a way to stop children from taking up smoking. Currently, flavored tobacco products can be sold no closer than 100 feet away from Chicago schools.

(H/T Charles WT)