Kentucky’s House of Representatives has adopted legislation to raise the age at which people can buy tobacco products (that includes all nicotine products, not just cigarettes, as well as vaping products) to 21.
The “tobacco 21” legislation, officially Senate Bill 56, already passed the state Senate and is heading to Gov. Beshear.
“Today, the Kentucky General Assembly took a crucial step to publicly recognize that tobacco products are extremely harmful, especially for our youth whose developing brains are particularly susceptible to nicotine,” said Ben Chandler, chair of the Coalition for a Smoke-Free Tomorrow. “While smoking among our youth has been declining for decades, e-cigarette use has exploded the past three years. In 2019, more than 53,000 high school students and 27,000 middle schoolers in Kentucky were using e-cigarette, or ‘vaping.'”
According to a release, the bill would also eliminate penalties on those who are under 21 and purchase, possess or use tobacco.
“Removing the penalties is about improving health as well because inserting kids into our judicial system for these types of offenses leads to worse health outcomes,” continued Chandler.
This article appears in Best Of Cincinnati 2020 (12098053).