A Republican senator in Alabama has proposed expanding the scope of its smoking ban, banning vapes in public places like restaurants and shopping malls and imposing a $25 fine. The bill also proposes naming the bill after the Democratic senator who helped to push for the legislation.
Key Points:
- Bill Content: Brings vapes under the existing Clean Indoor Air Act.
- Penalty: Vaping in public places will result in a $25 fine.
- Legislative Background: Alabama was the last state in the United States to implement a smoking ban in public places 20 years ago.
- Deliberation Date: The state legislature will begin its session on January 13th to discuss the proposal.
According to a report on August 11th, an Alabama senator has proposed banning vapes in public places under existing smoking bans.
Sen. Gerald Allen, a Republican from Cottondale, has introduced a bill to expand the scope of the Alabama Clean Indoor Air Act, passed in 2003.
Current law prohibits smoking in most enclosed public places, including retail stores, restaurants, government buildings, shopping malls, elevators, hospitals, nursing homes, airports, and banks. Violators are subject to a $25 fine.
Allen’s bill would include “vape use” in the legal definition of smoking.
Allen introduced a similar bill in 2024, but it failed to pass. Alabama was one of the last states to ban smoking in public places more than 20 years ago, after the EPA classified secondhand smoke as a known human carcinogen in the 1990s.
A study published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine found that vaping indoors may expose non-users to nicotine, but not to the toxic combustion products found in secondhand tobacco smoke. The study stated, “More research is needed to assess the health effects of secondhand nicotine exposure, particularly for vulnerable populations such as children, pregnant women, and those with cardiovascular disease.”
Dev. Vivian Davis Figgs, a Mobile Democrat, pushed for passage of Alabama’s Clean Indoor Air Act over six years. Allen’s bill, which includes a nod to his Senate colleague, proposes renaming the law the Vivian Davis Figgs Clean Indoor Air Act.
The legislative session will begin on January 13, 2026.
