TALLAHASSE - A bill banning the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors has passed a state Senate panel.
The bill (SB 224) would include e-cigarettes on the list of tobacco products prohibited from being sold to minors. The bill would also outlaw tobacco samples in this form from being given to minors.
The bill was heard in the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice on Wednesday.
“Allowing a child to become dependent upon nicotine is not something Florida should be interested in supporting, and Senate Bill 224 is a step in the right direction,” said Senate Majority Leader Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, who is sponsoring the measure.
The bill would not change any other tobacco-or nicotine-related statutes, Benacquisto said. It would not outlaw e-cigarettes from being used indoors.
The bill has received unanimous support in its first two Senate committees and has two more committees to go before it hits the floor. It heads to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice next.
House companion legislation has not received a committee hearing.