ASSEMBLY HEALTH COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY, No. 2029
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: MAY 13, 2024
The Assembly Health Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 2029.
This bill directs the Department of Education (DOE) and the Department of Health (DOH) to develop guidelines for school districts and institutions of higher education that will facilitate the implementation of on-campus anti-vaping awareness campaigns that target student populations. The purpose of the guidelines is to assist school districts, colleges, and universities in equipping adolescents and young adults with research-backed information on the dangers of vaping in an effort to combat the increased use of e-cigarettes among adolescents and young adults. The DOE and DOH are to review and update the guidelines annually.
The guidelines, at a minimum, are to include recommendations for:
(1) implementing an in-school and on-campus multi-tiered anti-vaping campaign that focuses on theories that promote age-appropriate, positive behavioral change among adolescents and young adults;
(2) disseminating research-backed materials on the dangers of vaping, as it relates to: its effects on users’ lungs, effects on mental health, how vaping compares to cigarette smoking, dangers to pregnant women, and the impact of vaping on people in the workplace and small children;
(3) using decision-making models and decision-making aids to help students make healthy decisions and overcome peer pressure that encourages vaping; and
(4) incorporating marketing materials, such as pamphlets, to promote on-campus age-appropriate anti-vaping information to middle school students, high school students, and college age adults.
Under this bill, the DOE and DOH are to post the guidelines on the respective website of each department.
This bill was pre-filed for introduction in the 2024-2025 session pending technical review. As reported, the bill includes the changes required by technical review, which has been performed.