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E-Cigarette Ban For Minors Gains Senate Support
November 10, 2013
With the slim metal tubes becoming a trendy alternative to regular cigarettes, a Senate committee has approved a bill that would prohibit the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors.
The Senate Regulated Industries Committee unanimously supported a proposal (SB 224) by Senate Majority Leader Lizbeth Benacquisto, R–Ft. Myers, that would add nicotine dispensing devices to the state’s prohibition on the sale of tobacco products to people under age 18. The bill also would make it illegal for minors to possess such electronic cigarettes and products.
“I think it’s a very good bill too, it’s probably something we’ve missed in the past,” said Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice.
The bill has the support of the Florida Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Brenda Olsen, chief operating officer for the American Lung Association of the Southeast, said her organization also supports the measure but wants the language of the bill to recognize the product in the same manner as cigarettes and other tobacco products.
“There have been a lot of other states that have adopted the same language but that have put e-cigarettes in a separate category,” Olsen said. “We’re really looking toward making sure it’s regulated as a tobacco product.”
If approved, Florida would become the 28th state to ban the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors. Of those states, Alabama, New Jersey and Utah set the age prohibition at 19.
While the smokeless cigarettes, which use heat to vaporize liquid nicotine, are marketed as cleaner than traditional cigarettes, Benacquisto said that as the mother of two teenagers she wants to stop a new generation of nicotine addicts as she reads “article after article” about the increased use of the devices.
“This is an incredibly new product and innovative, that our kids are seemingly attracted to, and the rise of use among our children is staggering,” Benacquisto said after the committee hearing.
The electronic cigarettes are seen by some as more acceptable than smoking, with the process involving a vaporizer to inhale nicotine that is often enhanced with flavors that range from simple vanilla, grape and banana to more alluring cotton candy, peach schnapps, pina colada and bubblegum.
Regulators have agonized over whether the products are a step in helping people quit smoking or serve as a gateway to nicotine addiction.
The Senate measure would make it a second-degree misdemeanor to sell e-cigarettes and related products to minors.
The proposal does not include nicotine patches.
While no cost estimates were available on the impact to retailers, a Senate staff analysis indicated that tobacco permit holders would have to replace their “point of sale calendars” and signage regarding the legal age to purchase tobacco products to also refer to alternative nicotine products.
Benacquisto’s measure must still go through the Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Subcommittee, the Criminal Justice Committee and the Appropriations Committee.
The House version of the proposal (HB 153) has three stops scheduled at the Business and Professional Regulation Subcommittee, the Government Operations Appropriations Subcommittee and the Regulatory Affairs Committee.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Comments
8 Responses to “E-Cigarette Ban For Minors Gains Senate Support”
Dotolive don’t waste your time arguing with people like that he will never listen. I assume he has such sensitive smell he even smells or believes in his mind he smells nicotine patches, nicotine gum and nicotine lozenges to. He can probably smell chew and snuff must be horrible for him. To most people without his super sensitive almost super power smell detector they have no smell and nobody gets second hand smoke or nicotine from them it’s a water vapor not smoke read up on it if your worried they are the ego brand I use them around people who can not stand cigarette smoke and they are not bothered by it at all can’t smell anything. it’s all in his head and he will never change his mind.
Go to fmcsa.dot.gov 374.201 Prohibition against smoking on interstate passenger-carrying molor vehicles. If told to put it away you will comply or be removed from the vehicle. A simple 911 call will bring me all the help I need! And yes I do smell the nicotine almost immediately, same smell as a regular cigarette. It also makes the regular smokers think that they can smoke too!
david lamb …..You are not getting second hand nicotime or smoke with E-cigarettes. you are not even getting the smoke. If you are smelling anything it is the autificial flavor that is added to them. I smoke the menthol ones and they do have a minty smell of sorts.
I think when someone goes THAT far to complain then they have no compassion at all. Has anyone complained about perfume on a bus, or the stinking smell of Bus exast fumes. If a person is doing something about a problem they have, others should be supportive. I smoked for 60 years and I just want someone to tell me I can’t smoke a e-cigarette that my doctor approved of in a public place. Until it is a law then they will have to deal with it. Maybe Obama will waiste more of the tax payers money chasing that dream.
E cigs stkill emit nicotine and those of us who dont want secondhand smoke dont want them allowed in establishments, transportation or crowds. As a motorcoach operator, I know in a few seconds when an E cig is light and they are banned from use on coaches/buses as are regular cigs!
REGARDING:
“David, Do you understand that any lithium battery can explode? Cell phones explode all the time, you still use one of those don’t you? So funny to me that people think e-cigs are to blame for the battery explosions.”
No, I don’t stick cell phones in my mouth.
I don’t see your problem. I favor eCigarettes over coal burning cigarettes since they are so much safer even with the occassional explosion and lost teeth. (Snuff, on the other hand, my grandmother dipped and had all her teeth well into her 80s, no matter how ugly they were.)
David for safer drug delivery systems for addicts
David, Do you understand that any lithium battery can explode? Cell phones explode all the time, you still use one of those don’t you? So funny to me that people think e-cigs are to blame for the battery explosions. Do a little research maybe in the future before you make a post that doesn’t make sense.
I agree this is not for kids. I do think it is a great replacement for people who are smokers my husband and I both quit smoking real cigarettes for over a month now with no problem don’t miss or want the real ones I was at least a 2 pack a day smoker and this is the only thincigsg that has worked for me I’ve tried all prescriptions and other e-cigs none of them helped until I tried these e-juice refillable and rechargeable ones. I no longer cough my breathing and taste is better and I no longer smell like an ashtray. My Drs. even prefer it. Last week I smelled other people smoking outside a restaurant and the smell was horrible I couldn’t believe that’s what I smelled like yuck. If you want a better alternative to smoking this is it I promise it works now my daughter and a friend use it to. One of my Drs. Said it was like the nicotine patch even told his last patient to switch to these.
Still — in the interest of reduced stink — I wish those who smoke and can’t quit would switch to these — or better yet snuff (because snuff doesn’t explode).