Omaha Passes Tax on Vaping Products. Will More Regulations Follow?

While the Omaha City Council grabbed local headlines last week by passing the city’s first tax on vaping products, the council is far from the only group putting heat on electronic cigarettes.

Across the country and Nebraska, a growing number of discussions — and actions — have been focused on putting electronic devices on par with traditional cigarettes when it comes to regulation and taxation.

Indeed, the pace of those efforts has made earlier moves to regulate tobacco — and exposure to tobacco — look like a slow burn by comparison.

Public health officials and anti-tobacco advocates say they don’t want to see a new generation becoming addicted to nicotine after decades of declines in tobacco use. And a Methodist pulmonologist notes that there are unanswered questions about the long-term effects of vaping.

Omaha World-Herald: Vaping is now taxed like smoking. Can Omaha expect more regulations on par with cigarettes?