North Hempstead bans use of e-cigarettes in town parks

The Town of North Hempstead board has approved a ban of electronic cigarettes in town parks.

E-cigarettes, as the battery-powered devices are commonly known, cannot be smoked in the town's 47 parks — comprising 833 acres — except for certain sections where smoking is allowed.

The vote took place at Tuesday's town board meeting.

The ban follows growing concern over the devices. A federal study released last week reported that use among high school and middle school students tripled between 2013 to 2014, as smoking of traditional cigarettes declined. A spate of schools recently approved campus bans of the devices, which can be with or without nicotine.

The devices resemble cigarettes or pipes and pens, and create vapor out of nicotine or other chemicals to be inhaled.

The legislation, proposed by Councilwoman Anna Kaplan, was supported by Manhasset Community Coalition Against Substance Abuse and the Tobacco Action Coalition of Long Island.