Clearing the Air: New Arkansas, Texas state laws will raise age of tobacco buyers from 18 to 21 to combat teen vaping

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second in a series of five stories examining teen vaping.

TEXARKANA - As of Sunday, Arkansas and Texas will join 16 other states in increasing the legal age for purchasing or possessing tobacco from 18 to 21 to help combat teen vaping.

Effective Sunday in both states, a "minor" will be a person under 21 when it comes to tobacco products, including e-cigarettes or other electronic nicotine delivery systems.

"After Sept. 1, anyone under the age of 21 would be subject to a citation if caught using or in possession of e-cigarettes (or any tobacco products)," said Shawn Vaughn, spokesman for the Texarkana, Texas, Police Department.

The laws in both states make an exception for anyone 21 or younger who has a military ID card.

There is also a grandfather clause in the Texas law stating anyone who is already 18 years old when the law goes into effect is not subject to the age restrictions, Vaughn said.

In other words, if you have not had your 18th birthday by Sept. 1, you will have to wait until 21 before you can purchase tobacco products.

In Arkansas, anyone turning 19 by Dec. 31, 2019 is not subject to the age restriction.

The laws are changing to help combat the epidemic of teen vaping.

National data show that about 95% of adult smokers begin smoking before they turn 21, according to tobaccofreekids.org.

The ages of 18 to 21 are also a critical period when many smokers move from experimental smoking to regular, daily use. While less than half of adult smokers (46%) become daily smokers before age 18, four out of five do so before they turn 21, according to the organization.

The punishment for underage tobacco violations is a little different, depending on the state.

"We can legally confiscate a vape from a minor," said Texarkana, Arkansas, Police Lt. Scott Megason, who serves in special operations narcotics. "It can be confiscated and destroyed but there is not much else criminally that we are allowed to do."

An Arkansas minor can only receive a citation for vaping if they are charged with another crime and have an electronic nicotine device on them at the time, Megason said.

According to an Arkansas state statute, any cigarette or tobacco product found in the possession of a person under 18 - and soon to be under 21 - may be confiscated by a certified law enforcement officer or a school official and immediately destroyed.

If a minor who is found by a court to be in violation of any criminal statute is also found to have been in possession of a cigarette or tobacco product at the time of the violation of the criminal statute, the court may order the minor to perform up to three hours of community service and to enroll in a tobacco education program, in addition to any other punishment imposed by the court for the violation of the criminal statute.

"In Texas, it is a class C misdemeanor," Vaughn said.

It is illegal to sell tobacco products, including electronic nicotine delivery systems to minors. Tobacco vendors in Arkansas are monitored by the state's Tobacco Control Board.

All vendors must have a current permit to sell tobacco products and failure to renew a permit by June 30 of each year may result in late fees, fines or suspensions as well as confiscation of all tobacco products.

Local complaints about a vendor are usually referred to the Tobacco Control Board, Megason said.

The board's mission is to ensure that all retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers of tobacco, vapor and alternative nicotine products fully adhere to all Arkansas tobacco laws.

The board also tries to protect public health by restricting youth access to tobacco, vapor and alternative nicotine products through education and enforcement.

Steve Goode, state director of Arkansas Tobacco Control Board, said the board is required by the health department to check every retailer in the state at least once a year. They also do numerous random checks.

"Some could have as many as three or four checks a year. If a retail store fails, we do another check within 30 days," Goode said.

The state tobacco control board employees six officers to do inspections and a federal contract with the FDA provides five more officers.

"We do about 10,735 checks in one year. We check every permit at least once and the fail rate averages about 6.2 percent," Goode said.

A warning is given for the first failed inspection, then a suspension and fines are applied to any additional fails.

About 85% of Arkansas stores don't have a failure on their record at all, he said.

"From a regulatory standpoint, we think we are doing everything we possibly can. We know underage use is a problem but not a lot of it is coming from the retail trade," Goode said.

The tobacco control board also monitors online purchases, he said.

The Texas Comptroller's Office regulates businesses in Texas that sell tobacco products.

TTPD will most likely not be doing any compliance checks locally, Vaughn said.

"However, should we witness any violations, our officers will likely take enforcement action," Vaughn said.

Selling or supplying is also a class C misdemeanor subject to a fine up to $100.

If the Comptroller finds that a retailer has sold cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars and/or other tobacco products to a minor at a place of business for which a permit has been issued, the Comptroller may suspend or revoke the business's permit or assess an administrative fine of up to $1,000 per violation, according to the website.

Another issue with electronic nicotine delivery systems is minors inhaling THC juice in them.

"We have seen some vapes with THC juice in them," said Vaughn. "If the concentration is such that it violates any drug laws, the person would be subject to arrest for that. It is illegal. Obviously, the biggest challenge for us is being able to distinguish the THC-laced juice from the regular stuff," Vaughn said.

Police believe that the most popular way that people are getting this is through online sources or drug dealers. And that can be very dangerous, according to law enforcement.

"Most products are not tested as to what is in them. There is very little known about it as opposed to regular tobacco. We don't know what all of these products have in them," Megason said.

Some of the nearly 200 severe lung infections recently identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been linked to vaping products containing THC.

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