TOPEKA — The Kansas Senate approved tougher regulations on vapes Wednesday in an effort to crack down on unlicensed products and eliminate advertisements geared toward children.
Major tobacco companies were behind the bill, which would impose the same licensing and advertising requirements on e-cigarettes as other nicotine products.
Sen. Mike Thompson, a Shawnee Republican, said it “cuts out the bad actors,” ensuring every e-cigarette manufacturer doing business in Kansas obtains a license. Applying for a license would cost the manufacturer $2,500.
Senate Bill 355 also bars manufacturers from marketing vapes to children. Vapes and their packaging can’t depict a fictional or cartoon-like character, include symbols or trademarks that are usually used in marketing to minors or feature the image of a celebrity.
Vapes with video game, audio, photo, video or similar entertainment features would be outlawed.
“A large portion of the vapes that come into Kansas come from foreign countries, and they are not regulated and not licensed, and they present health and security threats,” Thompson said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized four brands to sell 39 vapes. Those brands include three American companies and one Japanese company. The agency estimated in September that as much as 54% of vaping products sold across the country are illegal.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach issued a consumer alert for “smart vapes” in January, cautioning Kansas families. “Smart vapes,” Kobach’s office said, include Chinese products that enable access to games, social media, Bluetooth and music.
“These vapes are designed to entice and addict kids,” Kobach said at the time.
The materials inside these vapes are simultaneously unregulated, he said.
The Senate passed the bill unanimously and sent it to the House.
This story previously appeared in the Kansas Reflector.
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