New Jersey Senate passes bill to restrict electronic cigarettes like the real thing

NJ Senate passes bill to restrict e-cigarettes

TRENTON, N.J. — The New Jersey Senate has approved a bill that restricts the sale and use of electronic cigarettes.

The bill expands the definition of “smoking” to include e-cigarettes and extends the ban on smoking by minors to include them.

Electronic cigarettes look like the real thing but don’t contain tobacco. Instead, they employ a metal tube with a battery that heats up a liquid nicotine solution. Users inhale and exhale the resulting water vapor.

The Senate bill, approved Thursday by a 38-0 vote, prohibits their use in public places and workplaces. It was approved Monday by the state Assembly and now goes to Gov. Jon Corzine.

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg has called on the federal Food and Drug Administration to remove e-cigarettes from the market.