It was just a matter of time before Indiana’s legislature tightened its grip on tobacco policies.
Indiana law will soon increase the legal tobacco age — and double the fines stores will face — for selling smoking or vaping products to anyone younger than 21.
The House and Senate both passed Senate Bill 1 last week which sends the bill to the desk of Gov. Eric Holcomb, who has fervently supported the measure.
Under the bill, the maximum fine against a retailer for a first violation increases from $200 to $400. The penalties increase until a third violation within a year, which will carry a maximum $2,000 fine.
The bill passed 77-16 in the House and 37-11 in the senate.
While the ramifications are now better outlined, the federal government has said the age is 21 since for three months.
President Trump signed legislation to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and raise the federal minimum age of sale of tobacco products from 18 to 21 years on Dec. 21.
Local excise police have been enforcing the law, so the new law isn’t catching any retailers off guard.
Most politicians were in favor of the bill, but a majority of local legislators voted in opposition to the bill.
Four lawmakers voted ‘nay’ to the proposal: Ryan Lauer, R-Columbus, Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, and Sean Eberhart, R-Shelbyville, voted against it in the House while Senator Eric Koch, R-Bedford also said no. Senators Greg Walker, R-Columbus, and Chip Perfect, R-Lawrenceburg, and Rep. Randy Frye, R-Greensburg, voted in favor of the bill.
During the most recent Third House session in Columbus, Lauer — the lone lawmaker in attendance — addressed why he voted against the bill.
He recognized the federal government had made the law last year, but said that he believed that since Hoosiers can be sent to war or vote at age 18 they should be allowed to purchase the products.
Lauer said he also objected to language in the measure that would hurt retailers by setting a mandatory distance between their stores and public schools. The new law would require 1000 feet be between a tobacco store and school.
Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, has been vocally against raising the smoking age since it was federally mandated. He says the bill is a bad idea because the legislature would be regulating citizens too closely, and that if an 18-year-old can go to war and vote, they should be able to buy tobacco products.
While the human brain isn’t fully developed until the age of 25, it’s hard to argue that raising the purchase age to 21 won’t help use by teens.
More than 48,000 Americans, including 11,000 Hoosiers, die each year from smoking. Vaping’s consequences are still being monitored, but as of Feb. 18, a total of 2,807 have been hospitalized because of vaping-related injuries across the country.
According to the National Youth Tobacco Survey, which involves 6 million students nationwide in middle and high schools, one-fifth said they have vaped, something many don’t see as harmful. Use of e-cigarettes among high school students nationwide increased to 20.8% in 2018 from 1.5% in 2011.
There’s no denying that nicotine is a toxic substance that deteriorates our health.
The new law is a step forward in making our communities a little bit healthier.
