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SALT LAKE CITY — Lawmakers are moving forward with legislation to regulate e-cigarette products, including measures to make sure the contents of the cigarettes do not stray from what is printed on their labels.
A House committee gave preliminary approval to HB415 on Friday, a bill that would regulate e-cigarette products, require a person to obtain a license in order to sell those products, and outline criminal penalties for vendors who violate license requirements.
Bill sponsor Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, said Utah law currently requires a license for selling tobacco or cigarette products; it does not specify a license requirement for selling e-cigarette products. He said as a result, only clerks, not shops, are penalized for violating the law and selling to minors.
Also, current state law does not regulate the content of the e-cigarette’s liquids, he said, so the bill would help counties enforce their manufacturing standards, which are inspected by corresponding health departments.
Health officials have found 61 percent of e-juice cartridges sold in all 14 vape shops and 16 of the 80 tobacco specialty stories in Salt Lake County strayed at least 10 percent from what was indicated on labels, with either more or less nicotine content than expect, according to a Salt Lake County Health Department study that was released in January.
Ray said HB415 would not only provide product standards, but also allow law enforcement to revoke e-cigarette product vendors’ licenses and make it a class B misdemeanor if an individual sells e-cigarettes without a license.
“I’m not trying to put anybody out of business. I’m not trying to limit sales to adults. I’m just saying there needs to be some ground rules so if somebody is selling to a minor we can go after them,” Ray said.
Ray said e-cigarettes are proliferating among Utah’s youth, with tobacco companies strategically marketing to minors because people are realizing the damaging effects of traditional cigarettes.
“They know within the next 20 years if they don’t addict a new generation to tobacco products, they’re going to go out of business,” Ray said.
Aaron Frazier, executive director of Utah Smoke-Free Association, spoke in favor of the bill on behalf of the vape retail industry.
“We welcome regulations,” Frazier said. “We are self-regulated right now, (but) we understand that self-regulation is not enough unless the entire industry gets on board — we’re not on that stage of maturity yet.”
Frazier said he has been working with Ray to smooth out technical concerns of the bill, regarding definitions and language, but he still urged the committee to advance the bill.
“We just want to make sure we can work together for fair and equitable treatment,” he said.
The House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee voted 10-1 to pass HB415 to the House floor. Rep. Marc Roberts, R-Santaquin, voted against the bill without debate or comment.
