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DawsonCountyNews
WEDNESDAY I OCTOBER 23, 2019 DaWSOflNeWS ^COITI DAWSONVILLE, GEORGIA $1.00
BOC approves revised vaping ordinance
Legal age to purchase, use vape products raised to 19
Joshua Demarest
jdemarest@dawsonnews.com
The Dawson County Board
of Commissioners voted 4-0 to
approve a new ordinance
restricting the purchasing, pos
session and use of vape prod
ucts, including e-cigarettes.
The new law, which goes into
effect Jan. 1, 2020, raises the
legal age to purchase, possess,
or use any “alternative nicotine
products or vapor products” to
19, one year older than the cur
rent age set forth by the state.
This follows a trend of
increasing age restrictions for
tobacco and alternative nicotine
products across the country.
Currently, 18 states and more
than 500 localities have
increased the tobacco and, in
most cases, vaping age to 21,
including Smyrna, Georgia.
The ordinance also restricts
the locations where citizens
may use vape products. Starting
at the turn of the new year, it
will be illegal to vape “within
300 feet of any church building,
or on any property owned or
leased to a church, other than in
designated areas, if any,” or
“within 600 feet of any school
building, educational building,
school grounds, or college cam
pus, or on any property owned
or leased to a public or private
school or school board for ele
mentary or secondary educa
tion, other than in designated
areas, if any.”
The new law also focuses
heavily on the display and busi
ness side of vaping. Any store
selling vape products must now
“maintain its entire inventory of
alternative nicotine product
and/or vapor product and any
additional line of devices in a
screened area,” meaning it will
now be illegal “for a person to
allow any item of alternative
nicotine product or vapor prod
uct to be in view of the public,
except during actual sales
transactions of such items.”
The acceptable ingredients in
vape cartridges is also being
regulated under the new law.
The ordinance prohibits the
sale of any “harmful additive
other than pharmaceutical
grade vegetable glycerin, pro
pylene glycol, nicotine, food-
grade flavoring, and water.”
The ordinance also restricts
“any mixing or preparing vape
juice” at a vape shop “be done
strictly in compliance with
FDA regulations and applicable
permits.”
Despite the multitude of new
restrictions and regulations,
vape shop owners across the
county are calling this ordi
nance a win.
See Vape 14A
Half a decade of community service
Jessica Taylor Dawson County News
The Dawsonville Civitan Club celebrates its five year anniversary with the installment of a wheelchair accessible
picnic table at Veterans Memorial Park on Oct. 18. Pictured from left are: Carissa Martin, Nina Martin, District 1
Commissioner Sharon Fausett, Ann Raines, Diane Hansard, District 4 Commissioner Julie Hughes Nix and
Dawsonville Mayor Mike Eason.
Civitan celebrates 5 year anniversary
By Jessica Taylor
jtaylor@dawsonnews.com
Community members gathered at
Veterans Memorial Park Friday
afternoon to celebrate the
Dawsonville Civitan Club’s fifth
anniversary.
To celebrate its first five years in
Dawsonville, the local civic club
donated a new wheelchair-accessi
ble picnic table Oct. 18, the first one
of its kind in Dawson County.
“It’s the type that doesn’t have the
legs in the way so the wheelchairs
can actually pull up and sit at the
table without having to go side
ways,” Civitan President Diane
Hansard said.
The Dawson County Parks and
Recreation Department moved about
36 feet of the fence surrounding the
playground 12 feet back so that the
wheelchair accessible picnic table is
within the playground area
It’s the fifth piece of equipment
Civitan has donated to Veterans
Memorial Park in the past year.
In August 2018, the club pur
chased $15,000 worth of inclusive
playground equipment for the park
which included swings and “cozy
cocoon” where children with autism
and sensory processing disorders
can remove themselves from situa
tions of sensory overload while still
being accessible to their parents or
caretakers.
The Dawsonville Civitan Club is a
chapter of Civitan International, a
worldwide community service orga
nization with a mission to serve
See Civitan 13A
Mountain
Moonshine
Festival hits
this weekend
By Jessica Taylor
jtaylor@dawsonnews.com
It’s that time of year again when the
streets are filled with local artisans and
the air is filled with the sounds of revving
engines. It can only mean that the annual
Mountain Moonshine Festival is back in
its 52nd year this weekend.
More than 300 vendors have signed up
to line the streets of downtown
Dawsonville for this year’s festival, and
two stages will feature local talent
throughout Saturday and Sunday.
The Castleberry Stage, located at Grace
Presbyterian Church, will feature the
Tribes of Judah, South Rock, Highridge
and Cure My Enemy, as well as local
singers and musicians from north
Georgia. The Finish Line stage, in the
grassy area adjacent to the Pool Room,
will feature performances from local
See Moonshine 16A
Jessica Taylor Dawson County News
Classic cars cruised around the
Dawsonville square Saturday morn
ing during the annual Mountain
Moonshine Festival parade Oct. 27,
2018.
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Inside
Volume 4, Number 57
© 2019, Dawson County News
Dawsonville, Georgia
Church Events
3B
Classifieds
7B
Dear Abby
6B
Deaths
2A
Legals
8B
Opinion
9A
Sports
1B
3A Stryker
returned to
Georgia
5A Family
Connection to
hold poverty
simulation
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