State Rep. Paul Ray has a solution to the competing e-cigarette bills now battling each other on Capitol Hill — ban vaping completely, make it illegal.
Friday, Ray, R-Clearfield, introduced HB375, which would do just that.
“The Senate President (Stuart Adams) said he wants just one vaping bill. Well, I’ve got that bill,” Ray told UtahPolicy.com.
There are several vaping bills aimed at keeping minors from using the products, which at first were thought to be a good alternative to smoking tobacco, but now are seen as having their own unique health dangers, regardless of age.
“I don’t want to ban vaping completely,” said Ray.
But if some vaping outlets continue to illegally operate — as Ray claims they are — and that can’t be fixed by just more and more business/health regulation, then banning the products completely in Utah would be a solution.
The real problem for teens, said Ray, are the flavored vaping ingredients, which he says are specifically targeting minors.
And those continue to get into minors’ hands, he believes.
No states have yet banned vaping, he said. But several cities, including San Francisco, have banned vaping completely.
“I’m going to sit on my (banning) bill until we see what happens to all these other vaping bills” this session, said Ray. And if he doesn’t believe those other bills can be coordinated, and be effective in getting vaping materials out of kids’ hands, they he will run HB375.
