School groups want state to ban vaping

Posted at 12:30 p.m. on September 13, 2019

The Brillion News

MADISON – Three organizations representing Wisconsin public school leaders have joined together to call on the state legislature to take prompt action on Senate Bill 364 and Assembly Bill 422, companion measures that would address the crisis of teen vaping across Wisconsin.

The groups — including the Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance (SAA), the Wisconsin Association of School Boards (WASB) and the Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance (WiRSA) — have released the following joint statement:

“As we begin another school year here in Wisconsin, we are facing a true epidemic of vaping among children, teens and young adults. As e-cigarettes and vaping products have become more widely available, we have seen an explosion in the numbers of young people using these products. In Wisconsin, one in five high schoolers use e-cigarettes. Additionally, one in nine middle schoolers have tried e-cigarettes.”

These are self-reported numbers,and so actual usage may be higher.

The bills, known as Tobacco 21, would raise the minimum sales age for cigarettes, tobacco products or nicotine products to 21, up from the current 18.

It would also establish a minimum sales age of 21 for vapor products.

By prohibiting the purchase of vapor products by or on behalf of a person under the age of 21, the school groups believe this legislation would help prevent underage youth from buying or getting e-cigarettes and other harmful products from their older friends and dramatically improve our efforts to remove these dangerous products from Wisconsin’s schools.

~ Source: press releases from coalition of school groups