DES MOINES – The Iowa House voted 76-22 Tuesday to ban the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors.
Representative Sharon Steckman said Tuesday via social media that e-cigs are “not safe, but I voted no because it did not do enough to restrict them from kids and on school grounds.”
Under the bill, a person shall not sell, give, or otherwise supply any tobacco, tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, vapor products, or cigarettes to any person under years of age; and a person under 18 years of age is prohibited from smoking, using, possessing, purchasing, or attempting to purchase any tobacco, tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, vapor products, or cigarettes.
Lobbyists for retail stores supported the bill, while the American Lung Association and the American Cancer Society was against.
The bill now goes to the Iowa Senate for consideration.
Last November, Attorney General Tom Miller urged the Iowa Legislature to ban electronic cigarette sales to minors, add them to the Iowa Smokefree Air Act, and determine whether the state should tax the products higher than the standard state sales tax rate.
