Florida Panel Backs Keeping E-Cigarettes Away From Kids
By News Service of Florida // January 8, 2014
Bill Would Make It Illegal for Minors to Own E-Cigarettes
TALLAHASSEE • FLORIDA — A Florida Senate committee Wednesday quickly approved a proposal that would bar the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors.
The measure (SB 224), sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, has now been approved by two committees in preparation for this spring’s legislative session. The proposal would add “nicotine dispensing devices,” which include electronic cigarettes, 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.
“The use of electronic cigarettes is becoming increasingly popular among Florida’s youth, and yet there are still no age restrictions at both the state and federal level on the purchase of these harmful products,” Benacquisto said in a prepared statement after the Criminal Justice Committee unanimously approved the bill. “By regulating electronic cigarettes like other tobacco products, Florida will be one step closer to preventing a new generation of nicotine addicts.”
