Utah Senate panel approves bill restricting young people from smoke shops


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — A Senate committee gave preliminary approval to a bill Monday to prohibit Utahns under age 19 from entering specialty smoke shops without a parent or legal guardian.

HB131, sponsored by Rep. Kraig Powell, R-Heber City, advanced through the Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee with little discussion and a 5-0 vote.

The bill included amendments that provide exceptions to the proposed law, which state an 18-year-old can enter the tobacco specialty shop if he or she is an active duty member of the U.S. armed forces, or if the individual enters the tobacco shop for a business purpose other than to purchase a cigarette, tobacco or an electronic cigarette, Powell said.

HB131 would also restrict accompanying parents or guardians from allowing individuals under 19 to purchase tobacco or e-cigarette merchandise from the specialty shops.

The bill now goes to the full Senate for consideration.

r

Most recent Politics stories

Related topics

Politics
Katie McKellar

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast