Minnesota State Sen. Carla J. Nelson (R-Rochester) reading to school children | facebook.com/SenatorCarlaNelson
Minnesota State Sen. Carla J. Nelson (R-Rochester) reading to school children | facebook.com/SenatorCarlaNelson
State Sen. Carla J. Nelson, R-Rochester, has renewed her support for raising the age to purchase tobacco products in Minnesota to 21 "to combat the growing vaping epidemic," the senator said in an announcement issued in late October.
Nelson cited a Minnesota Student Survey that revealed an increase of more than 50 percent in vaping use among 11th-graders, compared to a similar 2016 survey, in her Oct. 22 announcement on the Minnesota Senate Republican Caucus website.
Vaping is "contributing to the first rise in youth tobacco rates in over fifteen years," Nelson said in her announcement.
"Vaping related deaths here in Minnesota and across the nation sound serious warning bells about these untested and unregulated vaping products," Nelson continued, referring to schools as "ground zero in the vaping health crisis."
Nelson, who was re-appointed to the nonpartisan Education Commission of the States in February, is chief author of the "Tobacco 21" or "T21" bill, SF 463, introduced into the Senate last winter.
The legislation, which would increase the age to purchase tobacco in Minnesota to 21, was referred in February to the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Finance and Policy committee, where it remains.
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