TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Governor Ron DeSantis has vetoed a bill that would have raised the minimum smoking age to 21 in Florida.
Earlier in the year, the state was poised to raise the minimum age for smoking and vaping to 21. But on Tuesday, in a letter sent to the Department of State Secretary, Gov. DeSantis explained that banning vaping would be "more dangerous" for hundreds of thousands of Floridians who rely on the reduced-risk alternatives to cigarettes.
Gov. DeSantis said in the letter that the bill -- Senate Bill 810 -- would lead more people to go back to smoking cigarettes and would "drive others to the hazardous black market."
While Gov. DeSantis says it's "an important goal" to get younger Floridians to cut down on vaping, he said in the letter that the goal will not be achieved with the passage of the bill.
Prior to being vetoed by the governor, Senate Bill 810 would have also banned sales of flavored vaping products.
Below is Gov. DeSantis' letter to the state:
Below is the now-vetoed Senate Bill 810:
This article was written by KJ Hiramoto for WFTS.
