Miami Beach Bans Vaping At Its Parks
MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) – The city of Miami Beach has just banned vaping in all city parks within its district.
The announcement came hours after Florida's Attorney General Ashley Moody said she would be launching a major investigation into 20 vaping companies that do business in the state.
With 26 reported deaths and 1,300 cases of vape-related illnesses in the United State, it was a topic Moody said she couldn't ignore.
Now the state's attorney general is getting a lot of support from Miami Beach.
"You go to a high school and junior high you're going to see cartridges on the floor," said Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber. "If you go to the parks, you see them there."
The city released a statement, which read:
"As the fundamental purpose of a municipal government is to protect the health, safety and general welfare of its residents and visitors — the City of Miami Beach is prohibiting the smoking of nicotine vaporizers or similar products throughout the city's parks."
Mayor Gelber says the city's fight against vaping began last year.
"We actually created a whole new slew of ordinances to stop their sale in our city without checking for age," he said. "We really have to treat this as an emerging healthcare crisis"
The new signs aren't up just yet, but it's safe to say they'll be in clear sight.
Miami Beach residents who frequent parks are backing the city's decision.
"The industry is trying to do everything to get people to consume it so I'm absolutely against it," said Nelli Uzzell.
"I don't think there should be smoking at all at any parks just because there's like animals around and because of the kids and they look at us they watch as what we're doing," said Katrina Uritis. "So it's a good idea not to have it anywhere public at least."
Miami Beach has not said what will happen to someone caught vaping at a city park.
