Wisconsin legislation would set vaping and smoking age at 21

MADISON - Legislators from both parties are seeking to set the age to buy tobacco and vaping products at 21.

Now, people have to be 18 to buy tobacco and nicotine products. There is no minimum age to buy vaping products that don't have nicotine. 

Rep. John Spiros, R-Marshfield, said at a public hearing Wednesday his legislation would help keep vaping out of schools. 

"This is a peer pressure issue," Spiros told the Assembly Committee on Substance Abuse and Prevention.

The move comes amid a rash of hospitalizations nationwide from vaping-related injuries. 

Eighteen states have established 21 as the age to buy tobacco and vaping products, according to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and the Public Health Law Center at Mitchell Hamline School of Law.

Wisconsin's politics are usually polarized, but Assembly Bill 422 enjoys bipartisan support. Thirty Democrats and 14 Republicans have signed onto it.

But the measure also faces skepticism from members of both parties.

Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, noted 18 is considered the age of adulthood for most purposes. People can sign up for the military and start voting once they reach that age. 

"Should we be talking about taking away the right to vote until 21 because the brain isn’t developed?" Nygren said. "You think you get some peer pressure with voting sometimes maybe?"

Rep. Jill Billings, D-La Crosse, asked whether the state should tackle teen vaping in a different way, such as by regulating who can sell vaping products and how they are marketed.

"This has been marketed to teens to look like lipstick or magic markers or flash drives," she said. "Clearly this is being geared for children. I would say this has been predatory toward children."

In an interview, Spiros said he shared concerns about vaping products that appear to be designed to appeal to children. But he said setting the age at 21 to buy such products would help keep them away from children. 

His legislation has won backing from tobacco and vaping company Altria and vaping company Juul Labs. 

"I think at some point they recognize there will be regulation and they would rather get ahead of it," Spiros said of the industry support for his legislation. 

Republican leaders who schedule legislation for votes haven't said if they plan to pass the bill. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers hasn't said whether he backs it. 

Contact Patrick Marley at patrick.marley@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @patrickdmarley.