STORM MEASURE ADDRESSES CONCERNS OF YOUTH, STUDENT ADVOCATES

STORM MEASURE ADDRESSES CONCERNS

OF YOUTH, STUDENT ADVOCATES

Senate Bill 344 aims to reduce youth vaping

FRANKFORT, KY (March 5, 2024) — Sen. Brandon Storm, R-London, presented Senate Bill (SB) 344 in committee on Tuesday. Local officials from the 21st Senate District, 27th Circuit Commonwealth’s Attorney Jackie Steele, and Laurel County Jailer Jamie Mosley—who support the measure—joined him.

SB 344 aims to regulate vapor products by creating a directory, imposing certification requirements on manufacturers, and enforcing advertising restrictions. The associated fund would ensure financial resources for effective enforcement and ongoing monitoring by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC).

MANUFACTURER CERTIFICATION AND ENFORCEMENT 

Under the bill’s provisions, manufacturers must annually certify information about their vapor products, including brand name, category, and flavor. The ABC would maintain a directory based on this information. Manufacturers would pay an enforcement fee, and the ABC would be required to enforce compliance through penalties and checks.

ADVERTISING RESTRICTIONS AND ENFORCEMENT FUND

The bill would prohibit using specific terms and symbols in vapor product advertising to address concerns about products appealing to children and young adults. It would also establish a restricted fund, the Vapor Product and Vapor Product Manufacturer Directory Enforcement Fund, for collecting fees and penalties to cover the ABC's monitoring and enforcement expenses. Unused funds carry forward, and interest earned becomes part of the fund.

Mosley, who is also a small business owner, described the industry of nicotine and non-nicotine products as the wild west. He emphasized the importance of businesses operating responsibly but stressed the need to address bad actors. 

“About five other states have basically done what we are discussing here today,” Mosley told the committee. We want to use the good laws you all have passed already, but the problem is there has not been an enforcement arm or a process to gather up the bad actors and remove those products from store shelves.”

Storm said he would continue working with all parties and colleagues to make any changes to the bill that may be necessary, which is a normal part of the legislative process.
BACKGROUND

During the October 16 meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Licensing, Occupations, and Administrative Regulations, student advocates Sydney Shaffer and Griffin Nemeth testified and encouraged stronger enforcement of the Tobacco 21 law in Kentucky. SB 56, championed by the Senate in 2020, brought Kentucky's statute into compliance with the new federal law raising the age to 21.

Shaffer and Nemeth highlighted the dangers of youth nicotine addiction through electronic cigarettes and discussed challenges in addressing youth vaping, including e-cigarettes with dangerous substances. Dr. Anthony Weaver, a retired internist and former associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine emphasized the harmful chemicals in vape products, underscoring the importance of enforcing Tobacco 21 laws to protect children's health. 

According to recent reporting from the Herald-Leader, ABC cited at least 114 retailers two or more times for selling smoking products to minors from November 2021 to August 2023. Retailers flunked these tests 883 times in the same timeframe. 

With Tuesday's unanimous approval of SB 344 from the Senate Licensing and Occupations Committee, Storm’s measure now qualifies for consideration by the full Senate.

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Sen. Brandon J. Storm, R-London, represents the 21st Senate District, including Casey, Lincoln, Laurel, and Rockcastle Counties. He recently graduated from the esteemed Henry Toll Fellowship and was the only Kentuckian to participate in the 2023 program. Sen. Storm serves as a Senate member of the Interim Joint Committees of Banking and Insurance; Economic Development and Workforce Investment; Judiciary; Local Government; State Government; Transportation; and Tourism, Small Business and Information Technology. He also serves as the co-chair of the Legislative Oversight and Investigations Committee; a member of the Jail and Corrections Reform Task Force; and a member of the Multimodal Freight Transportation System Improvement Task Force. 

For a high-resolution .jpeg of Storm, please visit: https://legislature.ky.gov/Legislators/Pages/Legislator-Profile.aspx?DistrictNumber=121.  

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