ORANGE PARK, Fla. – The town of Orange Park has placed new restrictions on the sale and use of electronic cigarettes. The council passed an ordinance to change the way the city treats electronic cigarettes unanimously Tuesday night, 5 to 0.
The council voted to ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors and the ordinance bans smoking e-cigarettes in public areas where smoking is already prohibited.
Christopher Johnson wasn't happy with the council's decision Tuesday night. Johnson works for a company that sells e-cigarettes and was hoping to open a store in Orange Park.
"We've got several stores already in Georgia and Alabama," said Johnson. "We've seen people who have quit smoking. We think it's the greatest thing to come around so far."
E-cigarettes have become popular over the last year and are considered a healthy alternative to smoking because they use water vapor with small amounts of nicotine.
"I think it does contain nicotine, yeah, I think it should be banned for kids," said Yvonne Elder.
"I know it's kind of infringement on civil rights, but e-cigarettes are a little bit alike but not much," said Doug Zander. "I am kind of a libertarian on that issue but people should be able to do what they want to do."
Orange Park is a step ahead of state laws. Florida has just started looking at legislation to ban the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors.