According to USA today, the state of Massachusetts has announced an official plan to ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. The office of Attorney General Maura Healey announced the new rule on Monday.

According to a statement from Healey, the rising trend of e-cigarettes poses a serious public health risk to the people of Massachusetts. Thus, strict action is necessary in order to protect the young people in the state.

“Now that these regulations are in place, businesses will be required to keep these addictive products out of the hands of minors, an important step to further reduce youth smoking”, she added.

Under these new restrictions, the e-cigarettes will be kept in locations where only the store employees have access, and e-cigarettes will be sold exclusively through face-to-face exchanges. The new laws also require that nicotine liquid or gel be kept in child-proof packaging in accordance with federal standards.

The new regulations will take effect on September 25. In addition to the passage of the regulations, Massachusetts businesses will also be given information about the regulations to help them stay in compliance, according to Healey.

Jonathan Lau, co-owner of The Vape Shop in Brighton, claimed that while he completely agrees with the child-proofing requirement, another stipulation which will prohibit sampling could be a hardship to local businesses.

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