Lake County Gazette

The Preventing Youth Vaping Act passed through the Illinois State Senate April 22 with the support of Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Highwood). 

The Preventing Youth Vaping Act legislation places new restrictions on the marketing of electronic cigarettes.

"Vaping- and e-cigarette-related deaths and illnesses have become a nationwide outbreak that no user is immune to — no matter how young they are," Morrison said in an April 23 Facebook post. "We were doing so well on changing the culture of smoking, and now we have gone backward — especially the younger generation."

The legislation's restrictions largely revolve around how electronic cigarettes are marketed, such as banning cartoons from ads for electronic cigarettes and preventing video games from being used in the marketing. Those bans aim to block electronic cigarettes from being covertly marketed to underage persons. It also bans retailers from offering discounts on electronic cigarettes and requires that the shippers verify the person ordering them is at least 21 years old.

Morrison has long supported keeping tobacco away from those who are underage. In 2019, she helped pass a new law raising the tobacco age to 21. 

After passing in the Senate, the legislation heads to the House for debate and consideration.