HB1541 went before the Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee on January 25th. We had a great showing from the community to testify in support of this bill to ban the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors.  It was a great showing in support of the bill and the committee was impressed.

Everyone who spoke was able to show the committee the extent of the problem and the real need for the
community to take action. However, the most compelling testimony came from Paige, a freshman at
Dover High School who is in both Breathe New Hampshire’s Youth Network and a member of Dover
Youth2Youth. She spoke to marketing issues about electronic cigarettes that only her generation is aware of.
Pop‐up ads are showing up on her personal Facebook page, the kiosks at the malls, where electronic cigarettes
are sold, are designed and positioned to attract her generation, and she is seeing use of them at school. Most
telling was the fact that the vapor from electronic cigarettes does not set off the school’s smoke detectors, so
students can use them on school property and in the bathrooms without detection. Paige also addressed the
fact that these are high tech and using them is referred to as vaping not smoking. Some go so far as to say they
are environmentally friendly and pop up on facebook pages as a health tip. In a very short period of time, she
was able to convey the problem so that the committee understood the severity of the situation. The committee
vice‐chair indicated that if Paige had gone first, we would not have needed to have anyone else testify.

Congratulations, Paige, on a job well done.

A special thanks to Rep.DiPentima, the bill’s prime sponsor, and Rep. Kotowski who spoke on behalf of the bill. Also a special thanks to Rep. E. Merrick, Rep. Donovan, Rep. Pilliod and Senator Gilmour who were co‐sponsors of the bill.