GOP bill to ban online e-cig sales to under 18’s in Iowa

If the bill goes through, online sellers will need a permit in order to sell the products, in addition to verifying that any buyers are over 18. Additionally the products would be subject to the state sales tax.

“I was just asked by Republican leadership to put that in the bill and it made sense to me,” said Sen. Charles Schneider (R-West Des Moines), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “This is activity that’s already happening and I think it’s important that people who are purchasing these products are at least 18 years old.”

An article on the Iowa public radio website said that these new regulations are nothing but part of the so-called Standings Bill. According to the article this bill is made up of unrelated majority party priorities which never made it through to the legislature via regular channels.

The importance of keeping an open mind

Up till now, the situation for vapers in Iowa has been a favourable one. Back in December 2015, Attorney General Tom Miller from the Iowa Department of Justice made his statement on e-cigarette key facts writing, “The harm of the combustible cigarette is dramatically greater than the harm of the e-cigarette”.

Similarly, in the following October, the Attorney General gave a heartfelt speech at the Food and Drug Law Institute Tobacco Conference, pointing out that he is driven by a motivation to help people, and that the thought that millions of lives could be saved by switching from smoking to vaping is exhilarating to him. He spoke about the importance of keeping an open mind, and recognizing when an error of judgement has been made and working towards rectifying it, is how we expand.

Making e-cigs inaccessible to teens, may push them towards smoking

Whilst everyone is in agreement, pro-vapers included, that youths should be kept from taking up vaping. Public Health experts are always concerned about setting an age limit to purchasing the products, as it is a known fact that most smokers start smoking in their tender teenage years, between the ages of 13 to 16. Hence, making vaping products inaccessible to youngsters who may be seeking a safer alternative or a cessation aid, may just push them back to smoking.

The Department of Revenue is currently analyzing the situation in order to determine how much revenue may be generated from the proposed e-cigarette tax. On the other hand the Appropriations Committee approved the Standing Bill, hence it will now be passed to Senate.