WICHITA, Kansas - They've become the latest craze, E-cigarettes. After a smoking ban in Kansas, a controversy is firing up in Wichita.
"They really ruined my concert," says Angela Prock.
Prock was using her E-cigarette at Intrust Arena recently at a concert when security asked her to stop using it.
"Smoking ban they said," explains Prock. "They told me to put it out, but it's not a cigarette."
Or is it?
Intrust Arena says it is banning the E-cigarette along with so-called "real" cigarettes that contain tobacco.
Prock says security at Intrust Bank Arena kept coming back to her seat to see if she was using the E-cigarette.
"They told me it may not be a cigarette but that I couldn't use it in the arena," says Prock. "They said it would promote smoking in the arena."
KSN checked locals laws on E-cigarettes. Turns out E-cigarettes are not included in the Kansas smoking ban in public spaces.
"The electronic cigarette is actually not defined as a smoking product," says Dave Dorsey with EVO Vapor, a maker of E-cigarettes. "It does not contain tobacco, and it's not included in the smoking ban. Perfectly legal to use inside, and there's not a smell to these like a real cigarette."
As a seller of E-cigarettes Dorsey has been following the laws carefully.
The Kansas Attorney General agreed with Dorsey and his interpretation of the law. Back in October of 2011, the Kansas Attorney General wrote an opinion on electronic vaporizers, also known as E-Cigarettes.
The opinion says, “In our opinion, the Kansas Indoor Clean Air Act does not apply to E-cigarettes.”
So, is Intrust or other any other business in the clear to ban E-cigarettes?
"My first reaction is no," says Sedgwick County Commissioner Jim Skelton. "Make no mistake, I understand the smoking ban, and I think it's the right thing to do. But E-cigarettes? This is not a harmful product. The way I understand is it's just water vapor."
"I plan on bringing up this issue with the county commission to better define the use of E-cigarettes. Because right now I'm not happy to hear that SMG is not letting people use the e-cigarette device during events."
SMG is the managing company that runs the arena. A.J. Boleski with SMG tells KSN the company is, indeed, banning E-Cigs from the arena.
Skelton says he will get the county commission to take a closer look.
