FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Public health advocates say Kentucky lawmakers missed a chance to combat youth smoking by failing to take up proposals to raise the age for purchasing tobacco products and e-cigarettes.
The proposals did not come up Tuesday when the state Senate debated a bill to set up a way for students to anonymously report concerns about vaping at public schools.
Vaping is an electronic form of smoking.
Amendments were drafted to increase the state's smoking age to 21 and to ban people under 21 from purchasing e-cigarettes and other vapor products. The amendments were withdrawn at the start of the Senate's debate on the measure, which later passed.
Supporters of higher smoking and vaping ages say there's time for lawmakers to take action. Kentucky is one of the country's largest tobacco-producing states.
