Raising the age may only strengthen the blackmarket presence, bypassing retailers who could at least monitor underage purchases.
Nearly 20 states across the US have already set in place such measures. Assembly Bill 422 would cover all types of electronic devices and tobacco products. “Probably the most powerful statistic is that 95% of adults who smoke start before the age of 21,” said Dr. Carrie Chapman, a member of the American Heart Association (AHA) when testifying in support of the bill. She added that the measure would prevent minors from becoming addicted to nicotine.
Sponsors of the Assembly bill and its Senate counterpart acknowledge that implementing statewide bans brings a set of challenges. Opponents of the bill on the other hand, pointed out that raising the age or implementing other restrictive laws will only strengthen the blackmarket presence, bypassing retailers who could at least monitor underage purchases.
A possible nationwide age limit increase
Meanwhile, comments by Trump last week, are indicating that the flavour ban that the administration had announced last September seems to be put on hold, and that plans to raise the vaping age to 21 “or so” may be underway instead.
“Will be meeting with representatives of the Vaping industry, together with medical professionals and individual state representatives, to come up with an acceptable solution to the Vaping and E-cigarette dilemma. Children’s health & safety, together with jobs, will be a focus!” he tweeted.
The President then mentioned raising the legal vaping age limit to 21, as a way to prevent teen vaping. “We’re going to be coming out with a very important position on vaping,” he said. “We have to take care of our kids, most importantly, so we’re going to have an age limit of 21 or so, so we’ll be coming out with something next week very important on vaping.”
Read Further: Public News Service
