KX News: Students Help Draft E-Cigarette Bill
By Steph Scheurer, Reporter
The CDC reports more than 16 million minors live in states where they can buy e-cigarettes legally.
The topic of age limits on e-cigarettes is one that will be brought up during the 2015 legislative session.
Braden Will and Ashti Ali are 7th graders.
But even at a young age, they’re thinking about their safety.
“It’s kind of scary that 12 year olds, even 10 year olds can buy e-cigarettes,” says Braden Will, Simle 7th Grader, SADD.
“We don’t think it’s right that kids our age and younger can buy e-cigarettes because they’re just as harmful as regular cigarettes and so if they start now, then they’ll just get addicted for their whole life and we don’t want that to happen,” says Ashti Ali, Simle 7th Grader, SADD.
So, they decided to do something about it.
“The Simle SADD chapter wrote Representative Larson and said, you know what, we want a bill to protect our youth,” says Kristie Wolff, Program Manager, American Lung Association, ND.
Representative Diane Larson went to Simle, met with the students, and got a bill drafted that would restrict the sale of e-cigarettes to minors across the state of North Dakota.
“Currently several communities across the state have already developed city ordinances that are in place but statewide we do not have an e-cigarette ordinance so it is legal for minors not only to purchase but possess e-cigarettes across much of the state,” says Wolff.
Wolff says e-cigarette use among the youth has tripled since 2011. Currently 40 states prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. North Dakota is not one of them.
“One of the reasons could be because we only have session every other year and so this is one of the first times that our legislators, you know, are going to be addressing it,” says Wolff.
As of September, 18 cities across the state have developed city ordinances that are in place, but Braden, Ashti, and the rest of their SADD chapter hopes their voice will help make this change statewide.
“I like the feeling that we actually kind of get to help with this because it just makes me feel good,” says Ali.
“I think the way the bill came about is amazing because it’s coming directly from those we want to protect,” says Wolff.
E-cigarettes are included in North Dakota’s Smoke Free Law.
Anywhere that traditional tobacco cannot be used, e-cigarettes also cannot be used.
According to a list from the American Lung Association in North Dakota, Dickinson is just one city where e-cigarettes are not restricted from being sold to minors.
http://www.kxnet.com/story/27634626/students-help-draft-e-cigarette-bill
