Beating the Smoking Ban

Yes, it's legal in all public places.

Ok, before I look at the law, I want to make something clear. I am completely in favor of legislation that bans smoking in public places and protects people from secondary smoke - although I do think some exceptions could be made. But the electronic cigarette does not give off any emissions that could harm those around the user.

If I thought it did, I would not spread the word about it being a way to bypass the law.

How things stand

If you look at the wording of any act of law, in one chapter or another it has to define its terms.

Therefore, in laws against smoking, the very term smoking must be defined. This is good for e-smokers because, as it stands, all the Acts I have seen define smoke and smoking in such a way that they could not be interpreted to include e-cigarettes.

To cut this short (I will be writing a lens devoted entirely to the law and e-cigarettes), smoke is produced by one of two reactions - combustion or pyrolysis.

The e-cigarette, however, simply vaporizes the solution (which contains harmless food-grade materials and nicotine)- there is no oxidization or reaction of any sort that occurs, however....

Be polite!

This is not a green light to simply pull out your e-cigarette and start puffing in bars,clubs and restaurants. If in doubt as to the policy of a premises (and at the moment you almost certainly will be) do check with the owner.

From my personal experience, bar managers' and club owners' reactions are likely to be surprise and interest, even if they decide not to let you use it on their premises.

The electronic cigarette is so new that most people haven't heard of it just yet - and owners of public places are likely to be very jumpy when someone appears to be smoking in their premises.