T21 Bill Will Open a Debate on Vaping and Children’s Health

A bipartisan Tobacco 21 bill has been introduced in the Senate, and will likely become the first major tobacco legislation to be passed since the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act that gave the FDA regulatory authority over tobacco products.

The bill is co-sponsored by Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine. Called the Tobacco-Free Youth Act, the legislation is the fifth Tobacco 21 law proposed during this session of Congress.

The McConnell-Kaine bill would makes sales of tobacco products (including vapes) illegal to those under 21, and would require states to pass their own Tobacco 21 legislation. States that don’t pass T21 laws will be denied federal grants to fund substance abuse programs.

The Tobacco-Free Youth Act doesn’t prevent states from imposing harsher restrictions of their own on retailers or the industry. “Health groups would probably like to do more,” McConnell told USA Today. “All of those battles are free to occur at the state level.”

Story originally posted on vape360.com

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