New Laws Would Remove Penalties for Kids Who Buy Cigarettes

Lawmakers in Lansing want to make sure kids aren’t using tobacco and nicotine products, but instead of holding kids accountable for their actions, they want more red tape for small businesses.

There’s a new spate of bills that would require businesses selling nicotine products to get a license from the state while also removing any punishment for kids who get caught with tobacco while underage.

Apparently kids shouldn’t be targeted for breaking a law that was enacted for their benefit, and businesses that sell tobacco are the big problem, not minors who break the law.

State Rep. Stephanie Young introduced the part of the legislation that would undo the current purchase, use or possession (PUP) penalties minors face for using tobacco products under the age of 21.

Currently, minors busted for using tobacco underage are required to pay a fine of less $50 for each offense and up to 48 hours of community service for the misdemeanor. Repeat offenders may also have to pay for and participate in a health promotion and risk reduction assessment program if ordered to do so by the court.

Lawmakers seem to think that young adults are powerless to stop Big Tobacco from getting them hooked.

“House Bills 5371 and 5372 aim to eliminate current penalties imposed on minors who purchase, use, or possess tobacco products, which are commonly referred to as (PUP) laws,” Young said on Facebook last week.

“PUP laws unfairly punish and stigmatize children for becoming victim to the tobacco industry’s aggressive marketing practices towards kids,” Young said. “Our bills focus on protecting minors—not criminalizing.”

The other parts of the law would shift the burden to retailers, fining them up to $10,000 and revoking a license for four offenses in three years. Employees that sell tobacco products to minors would be fined up to $2,000 for the first offense and up to $5,000 for four offenses.

Under the new law, kids using fake IDs to illegally obtain tobacco products from their local gas station wouldn’t even get a slap on the wrist while the employee who sold them a box of cigarettes could get slapped with a civil infraction and a fine worth two or three months of rent.

Worst of all, the legislation doesn’t “follow the science.” Research shows that most kids who get tobacco products get it from friends, not from a store.

A 2019 study “found that the majority of youth who are currently using tobacco products obtain them from social sources such as friends and/or peers, and many youth give others money to purchase tobacco products for them.”

The study found that 68% of youth got smokeless tobacco 75% of cigarettes from a social source.

It’s a documented fact that kids are getting tobacco products from their peers, not retailers. The notion that kids aren’t actually accountable for their actions will allow them to get their tobacco products from those who can legally buy it without any repercussions.

If you want to help youth, set the bar higher. Don’t take it away.

If lawmakers are serious about making the youth stay away from tobacco, they’d enforce and bolster the current laws prohibiting underage use instead of pretending businesses are the problem.

Democrats should put that in their pipe and smoke it.