State House panel OKs bill to regulate e-cigarettes in Ky.
cigarettes would be regulated as tobacco products in Kentucky under a bill that the House Licensing and Occupations Committee approved Wednesday.
HouseBill 309, sponsored by Rep. Joni Jenkins, D-Shively, would include the
relatively new product among cigarettes, cigars, and other types of tobacco
products that are regulated by the state. It would also make e-cigarettes off limits
to anyone under age 18.
E-cigarettes
have a battery, electric circuit or other component that allows them to
produce vaporized nicotine. The nicotine is derived from tobacco
grown in India and China, said National Center for Tobacco-Free Kids regional
director Amy Barkley, who testified on the bill with Jenkins.
Rep.
Brad Montell, R-Shelbyville, questioned whether e-cigarettes would be taxed as
tobacco products if redefined under HB 309. Jenkins said that would be up to
the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee, which is now working on a state
budget for the next two years. Montell and Rep. David Floyd, R-Bardstown, voted against the bill.
Concerns
about how broadly the legislation could be interpreted were expressed by Rep.
Adam Koenig, R-Erlanger, who asked Jenkins, “Why don’t we just have a bill
that says, e-cigarettes: You can’t buy them if you’re 18.”
Jenkins replied, “I
guess because the industry is constantly changing, and if we just say
e-cigarettes next year there’ll be a another product very similar but that’s
not exactly an e-cigarette.”
HB 309 now goes to
the Rules Committee, which could send it to the full House or to another committee.