The Houston City Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to ban e-cigarettes and vaping in public places.

Current regulations prohibit smoking within 25 feet of enclosed public spaces or workplaces, building entrances or exits, outdoor venues, and public transit stops. These rules now extend to electronic smoking devices, including electronic cigarettes and cigars, e-cigarettes, and any other device that uses vapor or aerosol liquids.

"This is something we voted on to protect people's health and safety from secondhand inhalation," Assemblyman Abby Cumming said Wednesday.

Charlie Gargan, advocacy director for the American Lung Association in Texas, said electronic smoking devices are a major contributor to youth tobacco use rates.

Expanding regulations to include e-cigarettes could help curb the situation, he said.

"Considering e-cigarettes as tobacco products is a common-sense step toward addressing this public health crisis," he said.

In 2019, about 11 percent of Houston high school students and just under 10 percent of Houston middle school students used electronic smoking devices, according to the Houston Department of Health. That's up from 7 percent of Houston's high and middle school students in 2017.

During a city council public comment session on Tuesday, Dr. Lindy McGee, a pediatrician at Texas Children's Hospital and an assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine, said she was concerned about the increase in vaping among patients. She believes vaping companies are deliberately marketing to teens.

"Utilizing social media, youth-appealing flavors and highly addictive nicotine, they're attracting a new generation to their products," McKee said.

City Councilman Robert Gallegos said the city's smoking ordinances were set before the popularity of vaping devices, arguing at Wednesday's council meeting that it's time to change the science.