Kyle is stamping out one of the burgeoning trends in nicotine use.

Kyle City Council enacted an ordinance on June 3 prohibiting minors from possessing or being sold electronic cigarettes.

The decision was unanimous among the council, which took up the first reading of the ordinance on May 20. City Attorney Ken Johnson helped write the document, but it was the impetus of the Kyle Area Youth Advisory Council, a student organization providing policy advice to the City Council, that led to the effort.

"I applaud (KAYAC) for really reviewing this and bringing it forward to the city for review and passage," Police Chief Jeff Barnett said. "I think that's part of one of the most unique parts of this story. Yes, this regulates them, and they asked for it.

"I think they did so in a way to help protect themselves, their classmates and other generations to come."

From 2011 to 2012, the number of middle and high school students using e-cigarettes doubled. E-cigarettes, also known as vaporizer pens, contain liquid nicotine that is inhaled and exhaled as vapor.

E-cigarettes have been hailed by advocates as safe for ostensibly producing no second-hand smoke effect and because e-cigarette "juice" is not rife with the chemical additives found in tobacco cigarettes.

But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration studied e-cigarette samples that turned up carcinogens and toxic substances, such as diethylene glycol, which is used in antifreeze. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported an uptick in calls to poison centers relating to e-cigarette use.

Violation of the ordinance, which goes into effect immediately after publication, would result in a Class C misdemeanor. Barnett said that while any minor could conceivably be taken to jail for possessing an e-cigarette, it is "highly unlikely" that an arrest will ever be made in connection with a violation of the ordinance.

It is more likely, he said, that citations will be issued to those breaking the law.

But Barnett said he expects education, not police vigilance, to be a key factor in attaining city-wide compliance to the ordinance.

"I really believe that, for the most part, we are going to be in complete compliance with that law," he said.

He added that the Kyle Police Department could enter into interlocal agreements with Hays CISD and the Hays County Sheriff's Office to enforce the ordinance in those jurisdictions.