Kansas physician, legislator want to raise tobacco age limit to 21

Kansas lawmakers are hesitant to increase the standard from the current age of 18. A physician said he's surprised by the pushback.

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State News

February 10, 2023 - 3:46 PM

Physician and state Rep. John Eplee, center, asked the House Federal and State Affairs Committee to support raising the age to purchase, possess or consume tobacco products in Kansas from 18 to 21. The change would comply with federal law. Photo by (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA — Physician John Eplee hasn’t accepted hesitancy of Kansas lawmakers to raise the threshold for purchase, possession and consumption of cigarettes to 21 years of age from the current standard of 18.

Eplee, who also serves as a Republican state representative from Atchison, said Thursday he was convinced financial and health arguments for the higher age were persuasive enough to keep pushing for adoption of House Bill 2269. He said many of his patients, as well as his parents in their mid-70s, succumbed to tobacco-related diseases. If he were king for a day, Eplee said he would impose a permanent ban on tobacco for all ages.

Still, Eplee told the House Federal and State Affairs Committee that he recognized some in the Capitol remained unconvinced despite his years of advocacy.

“I have been surprised at the pushback on this bill in past sessions,” he said. “We are hung up on taking someone’s rights away over … a product that causes long-term addiction, dependency and death. I thought one of government’s core values was to protect citizens from omnious threats, even if from within ourselves.”

President Donald Trump signed legislation in 2019 amending the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to set the age to buy tobacco products at 21 or older. Incentive for states to accept the federal standard — so far, 41 have signed on, including Colorado, Nebraska and Oklahoma — was availability of millions of dollars in funding for state enforcement and addiction programs. If Kansas declined to act on the House bill or something comparable to bring the state into compliance, Kansas could lose $1.2 million annually in federal aid.

While the Trump administration’s tobacco reform did preempt state law, Kansas would lack jurisdictional authority to enforce federal law on tobacco products without action by the Legislature and Gov. Laura Kelly. Some Kansas vendors voluntarily accepted the higher age restriction, but all businesses wouldn’t be required to conform until state law was aligned with the age barrier embraced by Trump.

Kevin Gregg, who lobbies for Fuel True Independent Energy and Convenience, said the association of 300 petroleum distribution companies and convenience store retailers would support a “clean bill” simply raising the minimum age to buy tobacco products to 21.

He said the industry group wouldn’t support amendments attaching fines to punish retailers that sold tobacco products to underage customers. The industry’s compliance rate of 95% on tobacco sales made sanctions unnecessary, he said.

If the bill was implemented as written, the Kansas Department of Revenue said state tobacco tax revenue would fall $7.6 million in the upcoming fiscal year. The projection was based on federal reports suggesting Kansas had 17,000 smokers aged 18 t0 20. That’s less than 5% of all adult smokers in the state.

Other reform ideas

Sara Prem, president of the Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition, lauded a shift in the state’s minimum legal age of tobacco sales to 21, but would like the bill to repeal criminal penalties on youth caught purchasing, using or possessing tobacco products. She said penalties on youth weren’t an effective deterrent.

“Penalties for youth may divert attention from more effective tobacco control strategies, like strengthening retailer penalties who illegally sell tobacco, e-cigarettes and other nicotine products to youth,” Prem said. “It relieves the tobacco industry of responsibility for its marketing practices and retailers’ irresponsible sale to minors.”

Kari Rinker, who represents the American Heart Association in Kansas, said passage of the House bill without amendments would be a missed opportunity to work of the corporate tobacco inustry. She said those companies aggressively targeted Kansas kids with e-cigarettes and were developing new products containing addictive substances appealing to younger consumers.

She said lawmakers ought to consider repealing state sanctions on young smokers and updating definitions of tobacco or tobacco-like products in the statute book to stay ahead of the product curve.

Physician Dena Hubbard, public policy chair of the Kansas chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, had another suggestion for the House Federal and State Affairs Committee. She urged lawmakers to approve the age change, but also incorporate a ban on flavored nicotine products.

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