DESOTO COUNTY, Miss. — You can’t smoke electronic cigarettes in government buildings in DeSoto County anymore.
Supervisors have amended their smoking ban to include them. “This is a preventive measure that the Board of Supervisors feels is in the best interest of the county right now,” explained County Administrator Vanessa Lynchard. “They do contain nicotine and testing have shown that they emit different levels of chemicals. And there are no studies on what the effects of these cigarettes are.”
Lynchard said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been asked to research the possible effects of e-cigarettes. “If the FDA comes back and says that e-cigarettes are safe, I don’t think there will be any questions that (Desoto County Supervisors) will come back and remove the ban on them.”
The county banned smoking in all public areas of county owned buildings except in designated areas in 1997. The ban was later revised to do away with smoking in designated areas too. Now, DeSoto County joins larger cities like New York City, New Jersey, Chicago and Utah in banning e-cigarettes.
