COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Ohio students said there is a vaping problem in their schools, and they want lawmakers to do something about it.
“In my school, I see a lot of my friends and peers cutting class to me because they’re addicted,” Westfall High School senior Marianna Packer said. “Highly addicted.”
Packer said while the effects of vaping are bad for those doing it, it does not only impact those students.
“I see our bathrooms getting closed down during the day multiple times because there are a lot of kids vaping in there,” she said.
Even though buying tobacco and vape products is illegal for Ohioans under 21, prevention efforts are low by the time students reach high school.
“Once you get into high school, it’s like they just turn the shoulder and look the other way,” Packer said.
To that end, Packer is looking for Ohio lawmakers to take action, by doing things like enacting a tax increase.
“The tax increase would make it less likely for kids to buy it because it’s so expensive and they don’t have the means to buy it,” Packer said.
In Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s proposed executive budget, he calls for taxing all tobacco products, like vapes, being at 42%, up from the 17% rate established in 1993.
But as lawmakers mull over the budget and prepare to make changes starting in April, it seems unlikely that the tax hike will stick.
“How long are we just going to continue to raise taxes on Ohioans?” Ohio House Finance Committee Chairperson Rep. Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) said.
Stewart expects several requests to take that tax hike out, and there’s not much appetite “to be raising taxes in any capacity,” and especially here.
“Cigarettes and tobacco products are already pretty darn expensive, very heavily taxed,” Stewart said. “At some point, I think you have to respect the freedoms of Ohioans to choose what they want to want to do for their own life.”
“That’s fine for adults,” Packer said. “But we’re here for kids.”
Stewart said the committee plans to add all its amendments to the budget by April 8, before passing it from the House floor on or around April 9. Once it passes the House, it will need to be considered by the Ohio Senate.