This story originally appeared in the  Idaho Press .  

More than two years after the minimum age for smoking or vaping rose to 21 nationally, a divided Idaho Senate on Tuesday narrowly passed a bill to make state law match up; it currently still sets a minimum age of 18.  

The Senate’s 19-15 vote sends SB 1284 to the House, but a similar bill passed the Senate by a wider margin last year only to fail in the House, 28-40.  

“Raising the minimum age to 21 is the most effective way to address underage vaping,” Senate Health and Welfare Chairman Fred Martin, R-Boise, told the Senate. “It also protects important federal funding.”  

Martin said the disparity between the federal law and the state law creates confusion; retailers are bound by the federal law and can face serious penalties for violations. He also noted that the U.S. military has now banned the sale or use of tobacco for its members under age 21, a big change from the days when he served and “we got two cigarettes with every K-ration.”  

“We have an opportunity to comply with federal law and to give clarity to our merchants,” Martin said.  

Numerous senators spoke out against the bill, however. Sen. Regina Bayer, R-Meridian, said, “Idaho is a sovereign state and I think it would behoove us all to remember that. I do not support bowing to the federal government when they are wrong. I think we can all agree that if we were to raise the military enrollment age to 21, that would save lives. And maybe raising the voting age to 21 would satisfy a lot of people. When we get around to doing those things, I can support this bill. In the meantime, I vote no.”  

Sen. Mary Souza, R-Coeur d’Alene, said, “Let’s educate, and especially in this time after COVID when we’ve all been impacted by various mandates, let’s not mandate to this group of people who are young adults, let’s help them learn how to make the best decision for themselves.”  

Sen. Jim Rice, R-Caldwell, said, “I have long opposed treating 18-21-year-olds as a different kind of adult, sometimes a child and sometimes an adult. This bill does that. And for that reason I do oppose it.”  

Sen. Abby Lee, R-Fruitland, said she’s gotten “letter after letter from my retailers from my district saying that this was a problem, that they had people coming in trying to buy tobacco … and they were trying to comply with federal law” to stay in business. “I had letters from my sheriff saying that this was consistency in retail.”  

In response to concerns about disparities in when a person is considered an adult, Lee said, “We have disparity amongst our laws in lots of different areas. Let’s look at the liquor laws. This senator votes aye.”  

This year’s bill was brought by a lobbyist for the tobacco industry, noted Sen. Grant Burgoyne, D-Boise, who opposed it.  

“I think they wish to change the subject from their own behavior to the behavior of their victims,” he told the Senate. “They wish to put their victims at risk as a way of providing a fig leaf for the marketing of their products to our preteens and our teens.”  

He noted the penalties for violation – which the bill wouldn’t change from the current law that now applies to those under 18 – and said, “We should be spending the state’s resources on cessation and prevention, not dragging youth into the criminal justice system.”  

Under current law, minors who possess or use tobacco or vaping products can face an infraction with a fine of $17.50. They could also be ordered by a court to participate in awareness programs or perform related community service.  

The law contains a fine of up to $200 for minors who sell or distribute the products, or who use or provide false identification. Repeat offenses on those counts could be punishable as misdemeanors.  

Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise, said, “I can’t vote to criminalize it. They’ve already been hooked.”  

Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder, R-Boise, said, “Just like most of you, this is a bill that causes me some concern.” But, he said, “One of my brothers didn’t smoke when he went in the military, they put ‘em in his rations, and he became addicted, and he died of congestive heart failure at 61 years old. If the military is willing to say this is not good for the military … I’m willing to support it this time.”  

Last year’s bill was brought by the Idaho Retailers Association. The 2020 version was proposed by state health officials; it died in the Senate on a 10-22 vote. Versions of the same bill proposed in both 2018 and 2017 never made it out of Senate committees.  

This story originally appeared in the  Idaho Press . Read more at  IdahoPress.com

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