January 28, 2019 By Matt Long (South Carolina Radio Network)
A bill scheduled to be taken up in a South Carolina House committee Tuesday afternoon would ban minors from entering vaping stores and require online retailers take additional steps to ensure they are not selling e-cigarettes to underaged teens.
The House Judiciary Committee is discussing a bill which would tighten state law to make vaping products less accessible to minors. South Carolina banned the sale to minors outright in 2013, but State Rep. Beth Bernstein, D-Columbia, said the product has been easily accessible online.
“They’re marketed as being safer than cigarettes,” she said. “And studies have shown when adolescents use these products, they’re more likely to then become addicted to nicotine and then a user of cigarettes, as well.”
The US Surgeon General’s Office found the rate of high school students vaping doubled last year from 11 percent to 21 percent. The office took the unusual step of declaring e-cigarettes an “epidemic among youth. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has taken some steps to limit the availability of flavored electronic cigarettes, particularly for minors.
“These figures are astounding to me,” Bernstein said. “And should be disconcerting to parents of pre-teens or teenagers.”
Bernstein’s bill is the work of discussions between various stakeholders in the debate, she said. It would not allow minors to enter a store which specializes in vaping products unless accompanied by an adult (although they could still walk into convenience stores or pharmacies which sell the products). Such stores must also display a sign saying those under 18 are not allowed inside. It also requires school districts specifically bar e-cigarettes from campus and mandates online sellers ensure a buyer is of age before delivering the product.
Juul, the largest brand name among e-cigarette products, has said it is working with lawmakers to prevent its products from ending up in youth hands. The company no longer markets on Facebook and said it now requires a user to verify (through a phone number and driver’s license) that they are indeed over 17. Bernstein said the additional verification steps would bring Juul in line with the proposed bill.
However, Bernstein admitted the bill could struggle to stop another source: 18-year-olds buying the products in bulk, then selling them to classmates.
