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E-Cigarette Sales To Minors Now A Crime In Three Broward Cities

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If you’re under 18 and try to buy a pack of cigarettes in Florida – well, you can’t.

And three Broward County cities have passed laws to ensure the same thing happens with the trendy new electronic alternative to a pack of “smokes.”

This week, Weston banned the sale of e-cigarettes to minors.  The ordinance makes Weston the third Broward County city to try to regulate the sale of the increasingly popular devices where kids are concerned.  Sunrise and Lighthouse Point recently passed similar ordinances.

The slim, battery-powered electronic cigarettes allow users to inhale vaporized nicotine.  Unlike conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes don’t contain tobacco and are not subject to U.S. tobacco laws. 

Weston Mayor Daniel Stermer says his city wanted to take a stand against the sale of e-cigarettes to minors.

Regardless of the technology, e-cigarettes are nothing more than a [nicotine] delivery device," says Stermer.

A Florida Senate bill making its way through the state legislature would make it illegal to sell e-cigarettes to anyone under the age of 18.  If the bill passes, Florida would become the 28th state to ban the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors.    

Christine DiMattei is WLRN's Morning Edition anchor and also reports on Arts & Culture.
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