Lawmaker seeks to raise minimum age for vaping

Georgia may move toward limits on vaping, as the 2020 legislative session gets underway and the number of associated deaths and illnesses rise.

Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, introduced legislation Wednesday that seeks to raise the minimum age to purchase vapor products to 21. The current age limit is 18. Senate Bill 298 would also require schools to teach about vaping and smoking, in addition to alcohol and drugs.

“This bill is all about protecting our children from the harmful effects associated with the use of vaping products,” Unterman said in a written statement.

The state House of Representatives has already held hearings about vaping that were triggered by a wave of fatalities and illnesses linked to the products.

House Health and Human Services Chairwoman Sharon Cooper, a Marietta Republican, said at a hearing in early December she expected legislation to cut down on underage use of e-cigarettes, pointing to the landmark 1998 legal settlement between the states and the tobacco industry. It required companies to stop targeting children with flavored tobacco products.

“If you are really concerned about young people not becoming addicted, why should we not follow (the example) and make this tobacco product the same as cigarettes?” Cooper said last month.

Vaping advocates say the products can help adults break from a lifetime of smoking, and manufacturers like Juul, have stopped selling flavored vaping products that appeal to minors.

Longtime smoker Keith Gossett told Cooper’s committee last month he expects to die from his old habit, but the Columbus vape shop owner said he hopes his switch to vaping will extend his life.

“I offer your smoking constituents a way out,” he said.

The Georgia Department of Public Health has tracked 41 vaping-associated illnesses and six deaths. Nationally, there were 2,688 “hospitalized e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury” cases and 60 deaths as of this week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.