Touted as a way to smoke without bothering other people, e-cigarettes are turning up in a lot of places that smoking would not be allowed. But one of those places will not be on Dallas public transportation.
Responding to their increasing popularity, DART issued a release saying that e-cigarettes will be handled the same way as regular cigarettes, which are forbidden.
The release cites two examples of yes and no: New York City, which has banned e-cigarettes wherever smoking is prohibited, and the University of California Irvine, which is allowing e-cigarettes on campus, despite a campus-wide smoking ban.
After being researched by DART's legal counsel and police, the decision was made to include e-cigarettes in DART's existing smoking policy outlined in the Code of Conduct. It states that a person cannot smoke or expel the residue of any tobacco product, including chewing tobacco, on a DART vehicle or at a DART facility.
A deciding factor for DART was a U.S. Appeals Court ruling in 2010 determined that e-cigarettes were to be regulated as tobacco products.
Around Dallas, some bars are letting them slide, especially those with outdoor areas and patios. But don't try it on Southwest Airlines, where flight attendants have declared their verboten status at the beginning of flights.
E-cigarettes are said to be smokeless.
