Hannon Announces New Law Banning E-Cigarettes from Minors

Electronic cigarettes (also known as “e-cigarettes”) are battery operated devices that vaporize cartridges filled with nicotine, flavor and other chemicals, and are currently marketed as a smoking-cessation produce or as a "healthier alternative" to traditional smoking products.

“Almost all Americans who use tobacco products become addicted to the nicotine contained in those products before they turn 18,” said Senator Kemp Hannon (R-Nassau).  “While electronic cigarettes are often used to help smokers to quit, there is also a very real danger that their use by minors can cause the very addiction they are designed to break.”

Despite their widespread use, there are little data available detailing the risks associated with smoking e-cigarettes, although the FDA (United States Food and Drug Administration) has found that e-cigarettes may be dangerous to users because they contain carcinogens and other chemicals, and the FDA does not currently regulate their use.

This law, which becomes effective on January 1, 2013, bans the sale and distribution of e-cigarettes to anyone under the age of 18.