Goddard minors who vape face strict penalties
Goddard minors who pull out a vape for a quick puff will face strict penalties.
On Monday, the Goddard City Council voted in favor of an ordinance that will supersede the state penalty of $25 for a minor in possession of a pod, which can contain liquid with nicotine or THC. Goddard Police Chief Fred Farris, who spearheaded the ordinance, said the state statute mentions E-cigarettes but not the pods and the current penalty doesn’t discourage minors or educate them about the illnesses happening from vaping. Kansas legislators have been talking about amending the law.
“Every time we catch you it’s $25. That does nothing to solve this problem,” Farris said. “We wanted something that had some teeth behind it something that could bring awareness up.”
Farris said he thinks it’s the first ordinance in the state. The ordinance carries a $200 fine once it takes effect, likely sometime next week, after it runs in Goddard’s official publication.
The ordinance also allows a judge to reduce the fine for first-time offenders as well as assign community service or an educational course on the “dangers and effects of vaping products,” according to a Goddard Police Department news release.
A minor smoking a traditional cigarette could still face a $25 fine under state law.
Farris said there’s “no doubt in anyone’s mind” that e-cigarette companies marketed their product toward minors.
A U.S. Surgeon General report said that E-cigarette use among middle and high school students jumped 900% between 2011 and 2015. It started to decline between 2015 and 2017. However, it rose 78% among high school students in a year’s time — going from 11.7% in 2017 to 20. 8% in 2018.
“In 2018, more than 3.6 million U.S. youth, including 1 in 5 high school students and 1 in 20 middle school students, currently use e-cigarettes,” the report stated.
The industry has also come under fire in 2019 after a string of deaths and rise in vape-related illnesses. Vaping proponents say those illnesses come from black market products.
The Goddard School District has launched a lawsuit against the vaping industry, as have other school districts. Farris said a Goddard school resource officer told him there were 20 to 30 incidents where students had a vaping product removed from them in the past month.
“I would say it’s probably more prevalent than people want to admit,” Farris said.