CDC: Number of teens hooked on e-cigs might be greatly underestimated because many teens don't know

[pnwmom]

137. The same letter was also signed by the Democratic Attorney General of MA, Martha Coakley.

And regardless of what law Ohio passed, it is still true that millions of minors in many states can easily purchase these nicotine delivery systems.

In fact, when the Governor signed the bill into law (less than two weeks ago), Ohio became the very first state in the country to ban the sale of e-cigs to minors. Thanks for the tip. I hadn't realized the situation was that bad.

http://consumerist.com/2014/02/13/ohio-likely-to-become-first-state-to-prohibit-e-cigarette-sales-to-minors/

E-cigs are still in a strange regulatory no-man’s-land. They’re kind of like regular cigarettes, but they’re also kind of not. Can you use them in places where smoking’s not allowed? Do they fall under current laws restricting the sale of tobacco products to minors? Nobody really knows, yet. Nobody, that is, except the state of Ohio, where a bill regulating e-cigarette sales is now sitting on the governor’s desk.

As the Cleveland.com reports, the bill banning the sale of e-cigarettes to minors succeeded in the Ohio state Senate this week, after passing the House in November. If the governor signs the bill into law, Ohio will become the first state to pass legislation restricting e-cigarette sales. (New York City regulates where they can be smoked, but not to whom they can be sold, and Los Angeles is considering a city-level sales restriction.)

The bill adds a provision for “alternative nicotine products” to Ohio’s restrictions on the sale of tobacco to minors. It forbids anyone under eighteen years of age, unless accompanied by an adult parent, spouse, or guardian, from purchasing, ordering, using, consuming, or possessing “cigarettes, other tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, or papers used to roll cigarettes.” The penalty for selling e-cigarettes to minors would be $1000 per violation.

The bill–supported by the Lorillard Tobacco Company, among others–met with opposition from the American Lung Association and American Cancer Society because of the new legal categories created for alternative nicotine products and electronic cigarettes. The new product category isn’t taxed at the same deliberately discouraging rate as tobacco products, and advocacy groups argue that encourages the use of e-cigs.

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/03/law_banning_sale_of_e-cigarett.html

From the beginning of this process, I believed it was common sense that a product that is clearly designed to give the same addictive effects as smoking a real cigarette should be included under the same category. As a mother of two teenagers, it was an honor to sponsor this legislation because I believe it will make a positive difference in the lives of young people throughout our state. I am proud to see the bill pass both chambers with bipartisan support, including unanimously in the Senate. (Gov. John Kasich sign the bill into law.)