Latest news with #BarbaraDrummond
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Alabama lawmakers pass tighter regulations on vaping sales
Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, speaks to a colleague on the Alabama Senate floor on May 6, 2025 in Montgomery, Alabama, while senators debate a bill she sponsored to regulate electronic vapor products. (Alander Rocha/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama Senate Tuesday approved a bill imposing stricter regulations on the sale of tobacco and vaping products. HB 8, sponsored by Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, would ban the distribution of tobacco, tobacco products, electronic nicotine delivery systems, e-liquids, and alternative nicotine products through vending machines. It would also create a licensing and fee requirement for retailers intending to sell these products. 'These products are harming our young people. We're not dealing with something that is a healthy product. This product is not a product that we should be inhaling into our lungs. So, we are just trying to protect our children,' said Sen. David Sessions, R-Grand Bay, who presented the bill to the body. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 28-5. The House concurred with Senate changes to the bill later in the day, sending the bill to Gov. Kay Ivey. Similar bills meant to address concerns about youth access to vaping devices have been introduced over several years by Drummond. Drummond, who was present on the Senate floor during its passage, received a standing ovation from the chamber. 'Today, your hard work is paid off,' said Senate President Pro Tempore Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, who has sponsored similar legislation in the past.. 'The state of Alabama appreciates you. We all say thank you for taking care of our kids, the superintendents, all the school children throughout, and all the ones that are doing some bad stuff. They don't even know they're doing bad stuff because that study's not out there, and there's not any money to enforce this. This allows that to happen.' Rates of smoking tend to be higher in Alabama, with just over 14% of Alabama adults being current smokers in 2023, with 9.5% smoking every day and 4.8% smoking some days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). About 12% of adults smoke every day or some days nationally. Rates of high school students using electronic vapes in Alabama are also higher than nationally and have increased since 2015, when about 2% of high school students used an electronic vaping device daily, according to CDC's High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey data. By 2021, that increased to 8% of Alabama high school students reporting using vapes every day, compared to 5% nationally. A University of Southern California 2025 study suggests that e-cigarette use in the past year declined in U.S. youths, but there was a significant increase in nicotine pouch usage from 2023 to 2024. The bill would also establish the Tobacco Licensing and Compliance Fund; provide for an advisory board to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, and require tobacco retailers to post signage warning of the dangers of tobacco product use. The legislation also includes measures aimed at schools, directing the Alabama State Board of Education to develop a model policy for vape awareness, education and prevention programs in public K-12 schools. Local boards of education will be required to adopt policies based on this model. During the Senate floor discussions, Sessions said he was concerned with the increasing use of vaping products among young people and the health consequences associated with them. 'We have an epidemic going on in this state with our young people. They are getting sick,' he said, claiming young individuals have required hospitalization due to the use of counterfeit products. The Senate also addressed concerns about the bill's potential impact on businesses that legally sell tobacco and vape products. An amendment proposed by Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro and approved by the chamber allows the sale of FDA-approved products in convenience stores if these stores obtain the necessary permits and comply with verification requirements. 'This amendment would definitely fall still under the laws of this particular bill,' Singleton said, saying that the amendment does not weaken the bill's intended regulation. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Proposed Alabama vaping regulation, fees pass Senate committee
Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, speaks during a debate in the Alabama House of Representatives on Feb. 12, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) An Alabama Senate committee advanced a vaping regulation bill Wednesday after hearing arguments from the sponsor and an opponent representing the vaping industry. HB 8, sponsored by Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, would amend state law regarding the sale and regulation of tobacco, alternative nicotine products, and electronic nicotine delivery systems, often called vapes. It would restrict sales via vending machines, increase penalties for violations, establish new licensing fees to create a dedicated enforcement fund and require K-12 schools to adopt policies for vaping awareness and prevention. Drummond described it as a necessary regulation and said that it would bring in about $2.5 million in revenue to the state coffers. There are currently no licensing or permit fees for vaping products. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'I just left the Prevention Day across the street at the Capitol, where there are teachers who brought students up, and the number one issue was vaping, and they were talking about how they don't know what to do,' Drummond said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Drummond also said the bill addresses underage violations, saying that when minors are found in violation in public schools or private schools, they will go to juvenile courts instead of adult courts. Meghan Hardesty, president of the Alabama Vape and Hemp Association, called the bill 'dangerous, ineffective and economically devastating' for regulating age-restricted vape shops. 'The vast majority of underage use begins in convenience stores and gas stations, not age-restricted vape shops that already require customers to be 21 and older and verify IDs,' she said. Hardesty added that the bill harms responsible businesses while benefiting large tobacco companies. She proposed moving vaping to licensed specialty retailers that only allow customers 21 and older, similar to alcohol, if the goal is to curb youth use. 'We are not against smart regulation,' she added. 'We want it, but HB 8 is not smart. It is harmful'. The bill moves to the full Senate for consideration. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama legislators elevate guns over children. Again.
Pistols are displayed in a New Jersey gun shop on Feb. 11, 2023. An Alabama House committee last week rejected a bill that would have required parents to secure firearms in households with children present. (Aristide Economopoulos for New Jersey Monitor) The leading cause of preventable death for Alabama children is guns. Let me say that again in active voice. Guns kill Alabama kids more than anything else we can prevent. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX And we refuse to act. Our lawmakers treat these dangerous weapons as props and charms. They pose with them in campaign ads, where they cosplay as hunters and militia members. It's all part of the deadly fantasy that justice comes from a gun and not the law or the courts. It leads to the fatal delusion that every American — no matter their inexperience or lack of training — can be trusted with a firearm. That's led to Alabama lawmakers hauling down basic gun safety laws, making a state with an unacceptably high rate of firearm deaths even more dangerous. We can start addressing the problem by keeping devices created to kill out of irresponsible hands. But we don't. And each year, thousands of Alabamians pay the price for this foolishness. Sometimes I let myself hope legislators are waking up to this reality. But then they manage to find a way back into their fantasies. On Wednesday, the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee rejected a bill from Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, that would have taken a small step toward addressing gun deaths in our state. HB 103 would have subjected the parents or guardians of children who bring unauthorized firearms to a public school to a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $6,000 fine. It was, in effect, a safe storage bill. Under the legislation, a gun owner with children would have to keep their firearm secured, either with a trigger lock or in some sort of secure container. That's something the American Association of Pediatrics supports, not only because it will prevent accidental deaths, but also because it will substantially cut the risk of suicide attempts with firearms. Guns account for about 70% of all suicide deaths in Alabama. You can plausibly ask how the law would be enforced. My own sense is that having this penalty in place will encourage parents to invest in devices keeping their guns away from their children. But that wasn't the stated reason Republicans rejected Drummond's bill. Rep. Ginny Shaver, R-Leesburg, a member of the committee, said she was concerned that the measure 'applies a criminal offense based on another person's actions.' This is a reasonable objection. But then I remember the Alabama Senate was considering a bill earlier this month that would have imposed criminal penalties on those providing aid or transportation to a person without legal status. Fine to punish aid to the stranger. But sanctions for letting a child get a hold of a firearm? That's an assault on freedom. Perhaps Republicans didn't want to advance a bill brought by a Democrat. Or maybe appeasing the gun lobby matters matters more than fixing this deadly status quo. If they have legitimate concerns about the penalties in Drummond's bill, then they should bring their own. Make it impossible to buy a firearm without buying some device to secure it. Put the onus on the gun owner. There are some GOP proposals that could inch toward safety. The House last week passed HB 216, sponsored by Rep. Russell Bedsole, R-Alabaster. The bill would allow gun dealers to participate in a program allowing the voluntary surrender of firearms without fear of lawsuits. The Senate on Thursday approved a similar measure from Sen. Keith Kelley, R-Anniston. Neither bill is a red flag law, where a court can order the seizure of firearms from a person who appears to be a threat to themselves or other people. Both count on a person who owns a firearm recognizing that he or she might do harm and acting before that happens. Now, I admire a person who can tell that they can't be trusted with a gun. Unfortunately, such foresight is rare. And if you're trying to intervene on behalf of a spouse, a child or a parent, you're out of luck. So it doesn't seem like the legislation be effective. The bills won't be useless. Even a voluntary program will save someone's life. But it's hardly what's needed in a state with a higher firearm death total than New York State. Which is four times bigger than Alabama. It's very hard to take the Legislature's push for 'public safety' seriously when they treat the single-worst threat to law and order — the firearm — as some kind of fixed and blameless object. Taking the firearm off that pedestal would go a long way toward saving lives in this state. But we can't have that. To legislators, the gun is higher and holier than anything else in Alabama. And its sanctity must be preserved. Even if children needlessly die. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama House committee rejects bill making parents liable when children bring guns to school
Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, speaks during a debate in the Alabama House of Representatives on Feb. 12, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. A House committee rejected a bill sponsored by Drummond that would have imposed criminal penalties on parents of children who bring unauthorized firearms to school. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) Lawmakers Wednesday halted a bill that could have made parents and guardians who don't secure their firearms criminally liable if their children bring those guns to school. The House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee rejected HB 103, sponsored by Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, that would have subjected parents to a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $6,000 fine if their child brings an unauthorized firearm to school. 'I want you to know that this is not anti-gun bill or a gun control bill,' she said to members of the committee. 'This is a pro-parenting and pro-schools bill to help us prevent children from bringing their parents' guns to school campuses.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Drummond introduced the legislation after she noticed an increasing number of incidents in which children brought firearms to school. The bill would require parents to attach a trigger lock device to a gun or storing the firearm in a lock box that requires a key or some kind of combination to unlock. This is the third consecutive year that Drummond introduced legislation that held parents responsible should their children gain access to their firearm and subsequently bring the weapon to school with them. The 2023 version of her legislation made it a Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000, for someone to have a firearm after they were convicted of a violence offense or had a protection order because of domestic abuse. That version also had a section that made it a Class A misdemeanor for minors, or those with a drug or alcohol addiction, to have a firearm. Parents could also be convicted of a Class C felony if they fail to safely secure their firearms, and their children bring the weapon to school. In 2024, Drummond downgraded the punishment to a Class A misdemeanor if parents fail to secure their firearms and their children bring it to school. It also left in place the other elements pertaining to people who had been convicted of a violent offense, along with punishing minors and people with an addiction to alcohol and drugs. In the most recent version, Drummond stripped the bill down to criminal liability for parents who fail to secure their firearms. The bill was approved by the House Judiciary Committee last year. Democrats on the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee unanimously voted in favor of the legislation, but Drummond failed to get enough support from Republicans. 'My basic opposition to this particular bill is that it applies a criminal offense based on another person's actions,' said Rep. Ginny Shaver, R-Leesburg. 'No matter what you do, if the child does take a gun to school, that person's action is then going to trigger a criminal penalty on someone else.' Drummond then warned her colleagues of the potential consequences after members voted against her proposal. 'I hope none of our children die as a result,' she said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama lawmakers kill bill to punish parents who fail to prevent kids from bringing guns to school
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama lawmakers rejected a bill on Wednesday that would impose a criminal penalty on a parent whose child brings a gun to school if the firearm was not secured at home, in contrast with a series of recent prosecutions nationwide that have targeted the parents of school shooters. The bill's Democratic sponsor, Rep. Barbara Drummond from Mobile, emphasized that the bill was meant to be a 'pro-school' measure instead of a gun control measure. The bill would have penalized a parent with up to a year of jail if they failed store a firearm using a trigger lock, lock box or 'gun safe that requires a key, numerical or alphanumerical combination, or fingerprint to open' before their minor brought it to school. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. The House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee voted against the bill along party lines. Republicans said that they supported the intent of the bill but that it wasn't fair to tell people where to keep their guns and put an undue burden on parents. "My basic opposition to this particular bill is that it applies a criminal offence to someone based on another person's actions," Rep. Ginny Shaver of Leesburg said. It is still rare nationwide for parents to be held legally responsible when a minor commits a school shooting. But recent high profile prosecutions have bucked that trend. The father of a 14-year-old boy accused of a deadly school shooting at a north Georgia high school was indicted on second degree murder charges in February. Michigan parents Jennifer and James Crumbley, the first parents to be convicted in a U.S. mass school shooting, were sentenced to at least 10 years in prison last year for not securing a firearm at home and acting indifferently to signs of their son's deteriorating mental health before he killed four students in 2021. There was renewed attention on the Alabama bill in early February after a second grader in Huntsville brought a gun to school that accidentally fired in his backpack, according to The committee passed a bill that would increase penalties for threatening to shoot up a school after a flurry of threats were made last year. Drummond said that she is a gun owner and always made sure to keep her gun away from the minor that she fostered for three years while he was a teenager. 'I hope none of our children die because of this,' Drummond said after the bill failed to pass.
