New law bans sales of electronic cigarettes to minors

Sales of electronic cigarettes to people under 18 are now illegal in Kentucky, following Gov. Steve Beshear’s signing into law Thursday of a bill that had support from cigarette manufacturers, many of whom are also getting into the e-cigarette business.

Senate Bill 109, sponsored by Republican Paul Hornback of Shelbyville and Dennis Parrett of Vine Grove, took effect immediately because it contained an emergency clause. A House committee had approved a similar bill, but it did not contain an emergency clause and never came to a vote in the full House.

The law bans the sale to minors of “alternative nicotine products,” defined as “a noncombustible product containing nicotine that is intended for human consumption, whether chewed, absorbed, dissolved, or ingested by any other means,” but “does not include any tobacco product, vapor product, or any other product regulated as a drug or device by the United States Food and Drug Administration.” It also adds to state law more detailed definitions of “tobacco product” and “vapor product,” and also bans the sale of the latter to minors.