KY House bill would toughen penalties for selling vape, tobacco products to kids

In an effort to curb youth smoking, a Kentucky House bill would require that vape stores be licensed by the state, and it would strengthen the penalties imposed on scofflaw vape and tobacco retailers who are caught selling their products to minors.

The lead sponsor of House Bill 142 said current laws fail to protect Kentucky youths from the health risks of smoking.

“There needs to be some sort of a deterrent, a deterrent with teeth to it,” state Rep. Mark Hart, R-Falmouth, said in an interview Monday.

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In Hart’s House district, retired U.S. Marine Corps Master Sgt. Brian Melton said that not only is vaping a problem among teenagers at Pendleton County High School, where he teaches R.O.T.C., but some kids use vape products laced with THC, Delta-8 and other drugs.

The small vape devices easily spread through schools because they can be so hard for teachers to spot, Melton said.

“You gotta start making somebody be held responsible for putting these dangerous products in kids’ hands,” Melton said.

The minimum legal age to buy tobacco and vape products in the United States is 21. Retailers are required to check government-issued photo identification for anyone who looks younger than 27.

However, the law is often ignored.

The Herald-Leader reported last month that from November 2021 to August 2023, the Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control cited stores across the state at least 883 times for selling smoking products to minors.

Employing under-aged buyers in sting operations, the ABC cited at least 114 retailers two or more times during this 21-month period.

The penalties were typically warning letters or small fines of $1,000 or less, which public health advocates warn is not enough to discourage rule-breaking by retailers. Selling smoking products can generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue for a gas station with a convenience store.

Hart’s bill would require that vape retailers be licensed by the ABC for each of their locations, a license that could be revoked the third time they are caught selling to minors.

Most states require tobacco or vape retailers to be licensed and sometimes even zoned away from schools and playgrounds, as does the city of Louisville, but Kentucky has resisted such efforts in the past.

The bill also would increase the civil fines for retailers caught selling vape or tobacco products to minors, up to $2,000 for a first offense and up to $3,000 for repeat offenses.

Finally, the bill would impose penalties on minors caught buying or attempting to buy vape or tobacco products.

Those under age 18 would be considered status offenders and could face fines of $100 to $500 for a first or repeat offense. If they couldn’t afford to pay the fine, they could perform community service. Those age 18 to 20 could be charged with a violation, which comes with a small fine, or a misdemeanor for repeat offenses.

School districts would be required to enact policies suspending students after a repeat offense for using vape or tobacco products on school property.

Hart’s bill is a good first step toward closing the loopholes that certain retailers exploit to keep selling smoking products to minors, said Alicia Whatley, policy and advocacy director at Kentucky Youth Advocates.

“Obviously, the sponsors of this bill have identified a huge problem across this state that’s only growing,” Whatley said.

But the bill could use improvements, Whatley said.

For starters, she would like to see tobacco retailers licensed alongside vape retailers, because Kentucky teenagers continue to harm their health by using cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, she said.

Moreover, she said, Kentucky Youth Advocates is skeptical about any legislation that would hit teenagers with criminal penalties for their own reckless behavior, as Hart’s bill proposes. Better to offer youths anti-smoking education and cessation programs and focus the tougher enforcement on retailers, Whatley said.

In his interview on Monday, Hart said he appreciates both of the concerns raised by Kentucky Youth Advocates. He expects some changes will be made to his bill before it’s heard by a House committee in coming weeks.

Tobacco retail licensing is a possibility he plans to discuss on Tuesday with state agriculture officials, Hart said, but he’s uneasy about trying to load too much material — with too many opponents — into one bill.

On the group’s other concern, he said, the law should discourage minors from buying vape and tobacco products, but he is willing to tread delicately there, because does not want to see any teenager arrested or jailed over it.

“Right now they can just kind of get it, even if they get caught, and they’re slapped on the wrist. It’s not really a deterrent from trying it,” Hart said.

“But we don’t want to make them criminals, and we don’t want to mess up their life to the point where it’s gonna cause them some type of bad long-term effects, you know. We don’t want them to have a record because of this,” he said.