Baltimore council unveils bills to curb smoke shops, orders informational hearing with health and enforcement agencies

Baltimore City Council members introduced a package of measures on Oct. 27 aimed at curbing the proliferation of smoke and vape shops and asked city and state agencies to brief the council on enforcement and public-health impacts.

Councilman Zeke Glover (lead sponsor of the resolution) told colleagues that the informational hearing is intended to "educate, not just us on the city council, but also the public," and cited a local concentration: "within a 3 block radius of Myers Street, we have a total of 13 smoke shops," he said, adding that he had received reports of "their kid being hospitalized by a substance from 1 of those smoke shops on Monument Street." The resolution (City Council Resolution 25-0037R) invites representatives from the Baltimore City Health Department, Police Department, Sheriff’s Office, Department of Planning…