By Freddy Monares/UM Legislative News Service

HELENA - Some e-cigarette users in Montana say Senate Bill 147’s inclusion of electronic cigarettes and vaping products in the list of prohibited tobacco items in the Clean Indoor Air Act is a step backward for them.

Belgrade vape shop owner Deanna Marshall opposes the bill.

“I then found the e-cigarette vape products and it actually worked for me the first time. I mean, I really thought that I was just going to die of smoking cigarettes,” Marshall said at a hearing for the bill on Thursday.

Opponents of the bill said it should be the right of the property owner to determine the use of those products on their properties.

Montana School Boards Association spokesman Bob Vogel supported the bill. He said school policy is vague because it reflects state law, which is also vague.

“We believe that Senate Bill 147 would clarify this and strengthen this policy, and in fact have it based on statute,” Vogel said.

Freddy Monares is a reporter with the UM Legislative News Service, a partnership of the University of Montana School of Journalism, the Montana Broadcasters Association and the Greater Montana Foundation.

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