Vape Expo NJ
17, 18 & 19th JULY 2015
Vaping enthusiasts got more than they
bargained for when they attended a three
T
day Vape Expo in the USA.
he event, which was held from July 17 to19 at the New
Jersey Convention Center, was attended by around
1,200 vendors and electronic cigarette enthusiasts.
New Jersey has strict indoor smoke-free air laws
which cover indoor public places and work places.
However organisers believed they could get around the New
Jersey Smoke-Free Air Act by making the event membership
only where attendees effectively became members of a private
vaping club in order to gain admission.
Everything seemed to go to plan…at least at first, until health
officials got to hear about the event and were not happy that
vaping was taking place inside a public building.
According to the website nj.com both local and county health
officials arrived at the event and handed out multiple fines
totalling around $50,000 to promotors and exhibitors for breach
of indoor smoke-free air laws.
The website reported that Edison and Middlesex County health
officials wrote 66 citations against vendors over the course of
the weekend for allowing customers to vape inside the the New
14 AUGUST 2015 VAPOUROUND MAGAZINE
Jersey Convention and Exposition Center.
Jay Elliot, director for the township Division of Health and
Human Services, is quoted as saying: “At my request they shut
the doors at 4 p.m. (Sunday) - it was scheduled until 8 p.m. - to
address vaping by the attendees at the event.”
In 2010, New Jersey was the first state in the USA to ban
vaping in public by expanding a law barring indoor smoking
at restaurants, bars and other public places to include
e-cigarettes.
Promotor Andy Balogh said he would cover the fines imposed
on anyone at the event who was cited for vaping indoors,
according to a video posted on the Vape Expo NJ 2015
Facebook page.
The event’s official website was updated during the event to
say: “The Edison board of health has forced vaping to be done
Saturday and Sunday in an adjacent enclosed pavillion off the
show floor.
“Please keep all vaping in that pavillion. This event is not open
to non-vapers. Thank you, VENJ Staff.”
Elliot said that despite the attendees and vendors signing a
document saying that they were joining the Vape Expo NJ
2015 ‘club’ that it was still an event which was effectively open
to the public.
The arrival of the health officials and the events which followed
provided to be highly controversial and provoked a lot of angry
reaction on social media sites.
Some blamed the organisers for not ensuring that vaping
would be allowed but most people seemed to complain that
issuing the fines was a very heavy handed approach by the
authorities concerned.
One comment on the event’s official Facebook page said:
“Joke what a joke. W aste of an 8 hr drive both way and feel
terrible for the vendors poor research done on planners
behalf…
“Thankyou for the vendors that stuck it out and allowed us to
try their awesome products even under threat of being fined.”
Another commenter asked: “How is it that the city waits till the
event in full swing and then starts fining people?”
State Sen. Joseph Vitale, one of the indoor smoking ban
sponsors, arrived after a tip off from GASP - Global Advisors
on Smokefree Policy - and said the law offered no exemption
for a private members club.