New York judge rules that vaping is not smoking

A New York judge handed a victory to vapers Feb. 5, declaring vaping is not the same as smoking and e-cigarette use is not necessarily banned in all the same places as smoking.

“An electronic cigarette neither burns nor contains tobacco,” said the court. “Instead, the use of such a device, which is commonly referred to as ‘vaping,’ involves the inhalation of vaporized e-cigarette liquid consisting of water, nicotine, a base of propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin and occasionally, flavoring.”

The issue was brought to the court in the case of People v. Thomas, after vaper Shawn Thomas was issued a citation on the subway and subsequently challenged the citation in cou