US
The American Cancer Society (ACS) is opposing Iowa’s proposed bill to raise the minimum age for buying and using tobacco products to 21.
Danielle Oswald-Thole, the ACS’s Iowa government relations director, said the bill, as it is currently written, is problematic because it focuses on the small time offender instead of big business. “Penalizing youth is not proven to be effective in actually reducing tobacco use,” she said. “We’re really asking that penalties on retailers and sellers be the focus because that’s what we know really stops youth from using these tobacco products.”
Oswald-Thole also said another reason ACS did not support the current bill is because the language in it defines vape products and e-cigarettes differently from tobacco products.