BATON ROUGE — Baton Rouge councilmembers voted in favor of imposing stricter distance requirements on vape stores and requiring specific signs to curb teenage use of e-tobacco products.

After a unanimous vote at Wednesday's Metro Council meeting, shops that primarily sell tobacco, vapes and similar products are no longer allowed to be within 500 feet of schools, churches, libraries, day care centers, public parks and other vape shops.

These stores are also now required to display that anyone under 18 is restricted from being in the store.

Louisiana law requires obtaining state permits and licenses to sell vape products. Baton Rouge, up until Wednesday, did not have any regulations on vape sales.

Businesses in the newly prohibited areas before the new ordinance was passed would be grand

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