LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he plans to introduce legislation that would raise the minimum age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21 nationally.
McConnell said Thursday his bill will cover all tobacco products, including vaping devices. He said vaping among teenagers has reached “epidemic levels” nationwide, and it is time for the federal government to take action.
“When teens vape at 15, they could be taking the first steps toward serious health problems throughout their entire lives,” McConnell said during a news conference Thursday at the headquarters of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.
According to the foundation, the use of e-cigarettes among high school students jumped 78 percent between 2017 and 2018, and 48 percent among middle school children.
Foundation President Ben Chandler applauded McConnell’s proposal and said it could save Kentucky billions of dollars in health care costs connected to smoking.
“This is about going upstream and preventing people from being addicted in the first place,” Chandler said.
A proposal that would have raised the age to buy tobacco products in Kentucky failed during the 2019 session of the General Assembly. One of the sponsors of the bill, Louisville State Sen. Julie Raque Adams, said she is encouraged by McConnell’s move.
“When you take it to the federal level, this bold approach, I think, really empowers those of us who are health advocates,” Adams said.
State Rep. Kim Moser, who chairs the House Health and Family Services Committee, said McConnell’s proposal is one key to combating the addiction crisis.
“We have put a lot of resources on a state level and federal level toward treatment of addiction, and we really have not done all that we can to prevent addiction,” Moser said.
McConnell represents a state that for generations was a leading tobacco producer in the nation. Tobacco production has dropped dramatically in Kentucky in the past decade, and McConnell said the state’s tobacco culture is changing.
“What we are trying to do collectively is make sure these young people don't get hooked in the first place on a product — I think is no longer in debate — is really not good for you,” McConnell said. “That debate is over.”
Carolyn White, whose family owns DFW Vape stores in Louisville, agreed underage kids should not smoke or vape. But she said 18 year olds are not kids.
“If an 18-year-old can join the military and go to war, they should be able to decide whether or not they use tobacco products,” White said. “That's their decision.”
Troy LeBlanc, president of the Kentucky Smoke Free Association, which promotes vaping as a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes, said he hopes any age increase could be phased-in.
"We ask that legislators be mindful of current users and introduce the bill with a stair-step age increase," said LeBlanc, who also owns the Derb E Cigs vapor stores.
McConnell said his bill would continue to hold retailers responsible for verifying the age of anyone buying tobacco products. He said about a dozen states have already enacted laws raising the minimum legal age to 21.
He said the legislation would include an exemption for those serving in the military.
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