The proposal would ban the sale of all tobacco and e-cigarette products within 1,000 feet of campuses – not just vapes.
AUSTIN, Texas — Austin city leaders are continuing their push to ban vape sales near schools and daycares.
City council first directed the city manager to look into how to tackle the restrictions in May of last year.
In a new city memo, the head of Austin Public Health recommends enacting a new zoning ordinance to ban the sale of all tobacco and e-cigarette products within 1,000 feet of campuses – not just vapes. The proposal would only impact new vape shops, smoke shops and convenience stores.
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The memo estimates more than 600 existing retailers are already within that distance, but they would be allowed to continue selling those products.
The proposed changes could go before the planning commission and city council this fall or winter.
Councilmember Krista Laine (District 6), who sponsored the resolution last year, emphasized the need for stricter regulations on vaping. She said while schools have been working to address e-cigarette use among students, their efforts stop at the edge of campus.
“Vaping has very clear health impacts, and also, it is, in my view, more dangerous than what has come before, in part because it is less regulated,” Laine said in May 2025. “There are more risks and less well-known risks to our youth. And so, it really is critically important that we do what we can as a city.”
Texas doesn’t have a law on the books regulating where smoke shops are located, but last year, the Legislature passed a law banning businesses from advertising e-cigarettes and vapes within 1,000 feet of educational institutions and churches.