--- description: Anywhere smoking is banned, e-cigs are now banned, too title: National Park Service Bans E-Cigarettes in Certain Areas image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte6e308b842196056/6988638f5f570f75f6b1d5b9/e-cig.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [nature](/tag/nature/) ## nature Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # National Park Service Bans E-Cigarettes in Certain Areas by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 14, 2015 10:26 PM CUT  Person smoking e cigarette Person smoking e cigaretteVICTOR DE SCHWANBERG—Science Photo Library RF/Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 14, 2015 10:26 PM CUT The National Park Service has decided to restrict the use of e-cigarettes on its lands, so that anywhere cigarette smoking is banned, vaping is now banned, too. Citing “an abundance of caution” to protect the health of employees and visitors, Director Jonathan Jarvis said the service would treat nicotine vapor the same as tobacco smoke. Smoking is banned at indoor sites and in park vehicles; it is each park superintendent’s prerogative to ban it in outdoor areas, as well—though this does not usually extend to parking lots and sidewalks, according to U.S. News and World Report. The science on e-cigs and secondhand smoke is still being investigated and debated; the National Park Service memo on the subject says the devices emit about one-tenth the amount as regular cigarettes. \[[_U.S. News_](http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/09/14/national-park-service-bans-e-cigarette-use-where-smoking-prohibited "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4034203/national-park-service-e-cigarettes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4034203/national-park-service-e-cigarettes/"},"headline":"National Park Service Bans E-Cigarettes in Certain Areas","datePublished":"2015-09-14T22:26:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:55:57.882Z","description":"Anywhere smoking is banned, e-cigs are now banned, too","url":"https://time.com/4034203/national-park-service-e-cigarettes/","keywords":["nature","E-Cigarettes","national park service"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte6e308b842196056/6988638f5f570f75f6b1d5b9/e-cig.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte6e308b842196056/6988638f5f570f75f6b1d5b9/e-cig.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"513090993","caption":"513090993","creditText":"VICTOR DE SCHWANBERG—Science Photo Library RF/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/nature/","name":"nature"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4034203/national-park-service-e-cigarettes/","name":"National Park Service Bans E-Cigarettes in Certain Areas"}}]}] ```