New Mexico high schoolers are to vape nicotine than use traditional tobacco products, according to the state鈥檚 Department of Health. A bill moving through the state Legislature that would license tobacco in the state for the first time would also regulate e-cigarettes.
Vaping is linked to a national outbreak of lung injury. When over the last six months, Aryan Showers, Policy Director at , says the agency needed to know more. 鈥淲e definitely needed to regulate these products and understand who was selling them, what was actually inside of these cartridges, [and] whether or not the products being sold were in childproof packaging, or tampered with, or contraband," Showers said.
would make that information accessible by licensing anyone who manufactures, distributes, and sells tobacco and nicotine products in the state.
It would also raise the minimum purchasing age to 21, mirroring , and allow the state to enforce it.
Currently, a minor who smokes or vapes can face . But Showers says criminalization is ineffective as a prevention strategy, so this bill would remove all criminal penalties for youth. Instead, it would focus on penalizing licensed retailers who sell to people under 21.
Several stakeholder agencies, including , and the , collaborated on the bill, says Showers, so if it passes it could be implemented quickly.
Senate Bill 131 is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, Feb. 11. is expected to be heard by the House Taxation and Revenue Committee that same day.
This story is part of the project: Your N.M. Government. Funding for our legislative coverage is provided, in part, by the Thornburg Foundation, the New Mexico Local News Fund and 九色网 listeners like you.
