Highland Park Cracking Down on e-Cigarettes

Highland Park, NJ - Highland Park introduced an ordinance Tuesday night that would require borough stores that sell e-cigarettes to be licensed.

And the $1,200 license fee businesses must shell out would go into anti-smoking campaigns and programs to help people quit smoking.

Currently, there is no license required to open an e-cigarette or "vape" shop in New Jersey. Comparatively, cigar bars or lounges must be registered with the state and liquor stores must be licensed. Highland Park would join 10 other municipalities in the state that already require licenses for vape shops, including nearby Westwood.

Highland Park currently has 9 stores that sell e-cigarettes.

Licenses would sell for $1,200 and would be purchased through the Highland Park Board of Health.

Vape/e-cigarette shops are a fast-growing industry, and are as of now mostly unregulated. E-cigarette proponents say their product is a helpful way to quit smoking.

But New Jersey is cracking down on the trend: In 2010, New Jersey was the first state in the country to ban smoking e-cigarettes in bars and restaurants — the same places where regular cigarettes are banned. Last summer, "Vape Expo NJ" in Edison was fine $50,000 by Middlesex County health officials for violating the state's indoor smoke-free air law.

E-cigarettes still contain highly addictive nicotine and other carcinogens, health experts say. As of now, e-cigarettes are unregulated by the Food & Drug Administration.

Should Highland Park's resolution become law, licenses will be required starting July 1, 2016.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons/e-cigarette