WAGNER & VOSS LEGISLATION TO COMBAT E-CIGARETTES SIGNED INTO LAW

(TRENTON) – Legislation sponsored by Assemblywomen Connie Wagner and Joan Voss (both D-Bergen) to prohibit the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors and include e-cigarettes in the New Jersey Smoke Free Air Act received was signed into law on Monday.

Wagner said she's concerned e-cigarettes are being marketed to children because they offer flavors like chocolate, banana and strawberry and could serve as a gateway to real cigarette use.

“These are dangerous devices and I want to make sure our children are protected,” Wagner said. “I’m very concerned that young people who use these things will get hooked on the nicotine and eventually move onto the real thing, opening the door to a lifetime of expensive and debilitating health problems.”

E-cigarettes look like the real thing but don't contain tobacco. They employ a metal tube with a battery that heats up a nicotine solution. Users breathe in the resulting vapor.

“Electronic cigarettes contain carcinogens and toxic chemicals, with one study even finding they use a toxic ingredient found in antifreeze,” Voss said. “We have every reason to be worried about the safety of these products that are easy for youngsters to buy and also contain no health warning like you find on real cigarettes.”

The law (A-4227/A-4228) extends the state ban on the sale of tobacco products to those under 19 years of age to e-cigarettes and include e-cigarettes in the New Jersey Smoke Free Air Act, which prohibits smoking in indoor public places and workplaces.

The law also was sponsored by Assemblywomen Nancy Munoz (R-Union), Mary Pat Angelini (R-Monmouth) and Assemblyman Paul Moriarty (D-Gloucester/Camden).

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