Utah looks to raise the smoking age, while Wisconsin seeks to exempt e-cigs from the public smoking ban.
On the heels of the New York City decision to ban e-cigarette use in public places, Utah and Wisconsin are putting forth state bills to handle e-cigarette consumption in different ways.
A Wisconsin bill would exempt e-cigarettes from the state’s current smoking restriction law that bans smoking in public locations.
Wisconsin State Senator Glenn Grothman has introduced Senate Bill No. 389, which specifies that the term “smoking” for purposes of the general prohibition against smoking in public indoor locations does not include the holding, or inhaling or exhaling a vapor or a vaporized solution from an electronic device that does not contain tobacco, the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) reported.
Meanwhile, in Utah a bill seeks to increase the smoking age, for e-cigarettes as well as traditional cigarettes, to 21.
Senate Bill No. 12 has been pre-filed for introduction in the 2014 Utah state legislative session that would prohibit the sale of tobacco products, e-cigarettes or drug paraphernalia to a person under the age of 21 and prohibit the possession of tobacco products, e-cigarettes or drug paraphernalia by a person under the age of 21, NATO reported.