Council subjecting vaping products to Omaha tobacco tax

The Omaha City Council has decided to subject vaping products to the city’s tobacco tax.

The council voted for the measure Tuesday and decided to make permanent the city’s 3% tax on tobacco products. It was approved in 2012 to support construction of a cancer center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

The vaping product addition could spur an estimated $1 million increase in the tobacco tax, which now raises about $3.5 million annually.

Public health advocates and others have said a vaping tax could help some young people choose not to start. Local vaping retailers warned that the tax would drive more vaping purchases online and beyond the city limits.