Lawmakers say they want to curb teen vaping, but bill banning flavored products isn't right move

PIERRE — Lawmakers say vaping among teenagers in South Dakota needs to be curtailed, but a bill banning the sale and possession of flavored vaping products isn't the right move to do that.

The House Health and Human Services Committee sent House Bill 1064 to the 41st legislative day, effectively killing it, in a 8-5 vote on Tuesday.

Committee members said they were concerned the bill would also ban adults from purchasing the products. The bill also didn't mirror federal regulations banning mint- and fruit-flavored products used in e-cigarettes and if it passed, the state would be out of compliance with those regulations, they said. The amount of amendments it would take to get the bill into a workable form meant the bill wasn't ready to move forward this session, they said before voting.

Some committee members also said parents are responsible to address their child's vaping.

"Are we in the nanny state?" asked Rep. Scyller Borglum, R-Rapid City.

But committee members supporting the bill said it was a step in the right direction to address youth vaping, even if it needs more work. Rep. Nancy York, R-Watertown, said, "This industry popped up out of nowhere, pretty much unregulated. Everyone set their own rules and look where it got us."

Bill sponsor Rep. Carl Perry, R-Aberdeen, said the flavored vaping products exposes children to nicotine, hooking them on it, and his position was supported by several South Dakota's medical establishments on Tuesday.

"These kids like these flavors? Let's make it so that they don't have the flavors to like," Perry said. "Let's not addict our future youth."

However, the American Cancer Society said that although it opposes vaping, it couldn't support the bill in its current form on Tuesday.

South Dakota school administrators also supported the bill, saying that vaping is one of the top challenges for schools right now. It's often left up to school administration to address, sometimes even installing devices to catch students vaping, said Rob Monson of School Administrators of South Dakota.

More: Dell Rapids School District is installing vape sensors. Will other districts follow suit?

The national and state vaping associations opposed the bill on Tuesday and South Dakota vape shop owners turned out in opposition. They argued that the bill would prohibit them from selling flavored products to adults who use them to stop smoking cigarettes and increase the risk of a black market for them.

"I don't want to see kids using vape," said Mitchell vape shop owner Andreas Unruh. "It has been my policy since day one, and continues to be going forward, that we do not sell to minors and a lot of vape shop owners are doing the responsible thing."

Children's access to the products is the problem, not the flavored products themselves, said Jordan Mason, lobbyist for the Dakota Vaping Association. The bill would end a legal industry that would cause a state and local tax revenue loss of $9.8 million, in addition to potentially costing people their jobs, he said. It'll also push former smokers back to "their deadly, traditional tobacco addiction."

The South Dakota Department of Revenue also opposed the bill over concerns that it would be responsible for seizing and destroying any flavored vaping products, which are considered hazardous materials.