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House education panel bans nicotine use in schools

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January 19th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ā€” The House Education Committee has unanimously approved a bill banning the use of all nicotine products on school property, amid fears new smokeless and dissolvable tobacco products are easier for students to use. State law already allows school boards to suspend or expel a student for the use or possession of tobacco, alcohol or controlled substances on school grounds. The bill approved Thursday expands those rules to include all nicotine products. Products used to help someone quit smoking are excluded. Committee Chairman Republican Greg Forristall, of Macedonia, says nicotine products resembling toothpicks, mints or breath strips are being marketed to young people. Under the bill, school boards may also remove other people that violate the law and ban them from school grounds. The bill now goes before the full House.