08/26/2016

Legislature Breaks for Summer Before Passing E-Cig Bill

Ohio ACEP remains hopeful this bill will pass during “lame duck” session

Senate Bill 54, introduced by Sen. Shannon Jones (R – Springboro), and its companion legislation, House Bill 168, introduced by Rep. Stephen Huffman (R – Tipp City), would prohibit the sale of products for use in electronic cigarettes that are not sold in child-resistant packaging.

With the increasing popularity of e-cigarettes and other “vaping” products, emergency departments and poison control centers have seen an alarming rise in cases of children ingesting highly toxic liquid nicotine. Requiring child-resistant packaging for these products is a commonsense step to helping reduce these accidental poisonings, and Ohio ACEP is pleased to support the bill.

SB 54 has passed the Senate, but not the House. And its House counterpart, HB 168, has been passed by the House but not the Senate. Just one of these bills needs to be voted on before December 31, 2016 in order to clear the General Assembly and head to the Governor’s desk. Both pieces of legislation passed their respective chambers with broad bipartisan support.

In May, Ohio ACEP signed onto a letter with a number of other organizations—including the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association—which encouraged Ohio House Speaker Cliff Rosenberg (R – Clarksville) to hold a floor vote on SB 54.

Though neither bill made it to the finish line before summer recess, Ohio ACEP remains hopeful the legislation will be signed into law during the upcoming lame duck session.