Senate panel hears testimony on S.198 to curb youth vaping; bill would ban toy-like devices and shift penalties to suppliers

Montpelier — Lawmakers on the Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs committee on Monday heard hours of testimony on S.198, a bill that would tighten state rules on electronic nicotine products, ban devices designed to appeal to children, and shift enforcement away from penalizing minors to targeting suppliers and retailers.

Assistant Attorney General Rose Kennedy, who outlined the bill for the committee, said the state has seen declining Master Settlement Agreement receipts as tobacco substitutes — e‑cigarettes, pouches and other products — have proliferated. "None of that exists for vapes and nicotine products, and that's why we're here," she told the committee, arguing S.198 would fill a state regulatory gap while federal premarket review remains backlogged.

Kennedy detailed several core proposals in S.198: an explicit ban on "products that we think should just be flat out banned in Vermont" because they are designed to look like toys or to be "stealthy" (light‑up devices, inhaler‑style products, markers and gaming‑style vapes); a separate licensing regime for nicotine products with higher fees; expanded inspection authority so state inspectors can check brick‑and‑mortar shelves for…