TALLAHASSEE
The sale of e-cigarettes to minors may be banned across the state this year, with the door left open for more local regulation of the growing industry.
A House bill to stop minors from buying e-cigarettes, widely popular in the Florida Legislature, is moving forward without a restriction that would have prevented local governments from imposing stronger rules.
The American heart and lung associations and the Florida Association of Counties had opposed that limit, calling it a disingenuous attempt to protect tobacco companies from even stricter regulation at the local level.
On Tuesday, House members stripped the bill of its power to override local ordinances and moved it toward a final vote.
The bill regulates the sale of e-cigarettes, and similar devices that allow smokers to inhale nicotine and other chemicals as a vapor.
Groups representing local governments said cities and counties are more sensitive to their communities’ needs and should have the final say on regulations. Some said they were happy with Tuesday’s developments but were still watching the bill closely as it moves toward passage.
“We’re certainly pleased,” said Cragin Mosteller, a spokeswoman for the Florida Association of Counties. “The bill going forward would not only protect our minors but also protect our local governments’ ability to create new ordinances.”
Sarasota County does not regulate e-cigarette sales, and City Attorney Bob Fournier said the city doesn’t either. But sales to minors would be banned effective July 1 if the bill passes.
The bill sponsors, Rep. Frank Artiles, R-Miami and Rep. Ronald “Doc” Renuart, an osteopathic physician, had said preempting local rules was necessary so that retailers could abide by a single set of rules across the state.
But the notion that retailers needed uniformity across the state was characterized as a “red herring” by Rep. Bill Hager, R-Boca Raton, one of the House members who insisted on removing the local limits.
Tobacco companies now face a variety of local regulations in selling cigarettes and appear to do just fine, Hager said. “This is an industry that is alive and will rock and roll” with any new regulations, he said.
The bill is now more in line with the Senate version (SB 224), which does not prohibit local regulations. The Senate has already unanimously passed the bill.
Both bills say that anyone caught giving or selling nicotine products or dispensing devices — such as e-cigarettes — to people younger than 18 could be charged with a second-degree misdemeanor. Minors found carrying or buying the products would be assessed a noncriminal violation.
Both the bill sponsors and detractors agreed a law needs to be passed to address e-cigarettes, which contain carcinogens and nicotine.
Their use among middle and high school students more than doubled between 2011 and 2012, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
