Minors who use vaping devices or bring them on school grounds soon may be violating state law.
House Bill 97 unanimously passed in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on March 25. The bill would make it illegal for people under 18 years old to purchase or use nicotine-based products, in addition to tobacco products.
It is already illegal for minors in the Commonwealth to buy or use tobacco products. The proposed bill, which still needs to be passed by the state Senate and signed by the governor before it becomes law, would add non-tobacco nicotine products to the listed of items illegal for minors to use.
It is currently illegal, under federal law, for stores to sell vaping products to minors. House Bill 97 would amend Title 18 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes to make it illegal for electronic nicotine delivery systems, or ENDS, to be sold, consumed or given to minors in Pennsylvania.
ENDS include electronic cigarettes, known as e-cigarettes, vape pens, or any electronic device that delivers nicotine or other substances through vaporization and inhalation.
The bill defines a nicotine product as any product that contains or consists of nicotine in a form that can be ingested by chewing, smoking, inhaling or any other means.
The bill would also outlaw ENDS on public school grounds. Some school districts already have their own policies regarding vaping devices.
Easton Area School District considers any nicotine device as banned contraband, according to Easton Area School District Director of Safe Schools/Chief of Police John Remaley.
Though district policy bans nicotine products, having the state make it illegal, too, is a positive step, Remaley said.
The proposed bill would also make it illegal to furnish, by purchase, gift or other means, a nicotine product or ENDS to a minor in Pennsylvania.
Last month, Pennsylvania Sen. Mario Scavello, R-Monroe/Northampton, proposed Senate Bill 473, which would raise the age for sale and use of tobacco or other nicotine products in the state to 21 years old. That bill has been sent to the Judiciary Committee for review.