KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Government and state agencies are holding their breath until the Food and Drug Administration writes regulations for electronic cigarettes. But the debate on the use of electronic cigarettes hits a little closer to home for one Kansas City man. Last Tuesday, Prophet Beach said he was going about his normal routine.
As seen in KCATA surveillance video, Beach boarded the bus near Armour and Troost, sat down and took puffs from an e-cigarette hanging on a lanyard around his neck.
“I wasn’t smoking an actual cigarette. I wasn’t doing anything illegal,” Beach said.
As vapors created a visible ring around Beach’s head, the bus driver can be seen looking in her rear-view mirror
“The bus driver proceeds to tell me that I had to put it out and I’m like, ‘What am I putting out? It’s an electronic cigarette,'” Beach explained.
Beach said he refused to comply, instead asking for them to show him a law or ordinance that stated that he couldn’t smoke his e-cigarette.
ATA supervisors and police eventually arrived on scene.
“Okay, for one I paid my fare. And so now they want to hit me with a trespassing charge because I refused to get off the bus. How am I trespassing if I paid my fare? I mean is it wrong for me to sit there and stand up for my rights?” Beach asked.
Kansas City’s smoking ordinance clearly spells out what’s not allowed in public places: “The possession of lighted smoking materials in any form.”
But the use of e-cigarettes is not addressed and it’s a subject being debated across the country.
“If we are waiting on laws to regulate our behavior then we are missing the opportunity,” said Dr. Rex Archer with the Kansas City, Missouri Health Department.
Archer feels strongly about the use of e-cigarettes, especially around others.
“So vapors that have an addictive substance that’s one of the most addictive substances known to man is healthy? I mean, that’s just not true” Archer said.
Cindy Baker, a spokesperson for the KCATA, said while it often relies on city ordinance, KCATA also set’s its own code of conduct to keep bus riders safe. No smoking on the bus is one of their rules. And while it doesn’t state it, she says that includes any form of e-cigarette.
Baker says to her knowledge this is the first incident with an e-cigarette on KCATA buses that she’s heard about. Beach is still facing a $100 fine for trespassing after refusing to get off the bus.