Establishes no person shall sell or offer for sale in this state any cigarette or any component part thereof which contains a natural or artificial additive that causes such cigarette or its smoke to have a characterizing flavor.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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4496
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 24, 2009
___________
Introduced by Sens. DUANE, FUSCHILLO -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to prohibiting the
sale of flavored cigarettes
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative findings. The legislature hereby finds and
2 declares that there has been a proliferation of flavored cigarettes in
3 recent years. Many of these products have fruit, chocolate or other
4 flavors that are particularly attractive to children. According to
5 public health experts, children are more likely to choose flavored ciga-
6 rettes when they start smoking, and thus the existence of these products
7 increases the incidence of tobacco use among children. Moreover, the
8 earlier that an individual begins smoking, the more likely he or she
9 will become addicted to tobacco products and will continue to smoke
10 throughout his or her lifetime. As a result, flavored cigarettes result
11 in increased tobacco use, increased addiction, a greater incidence of
12 smoking-related illnesses, increased health care costs, and more smok-
13 ing-related deaths. The legislature therefore finds and declares that
14 flavored cigarettes present a significant threat to public health, and
15 that the sale of flavored cigarettes must be prohibited.
16 § 2. Article 13-F of the public health law is amended by adding a new
17 section 1399-aaa to read as follows:
18 § 1399-aaa. Sale of flavored cigarettes prohibited. 1. No person shall
19 sell or offer for sale in this state any cigarette or any component part
20 thereof (including but not limited to the tobacco, paper, roll or
21 filter), which contains a natural or artificial constituent or additive
22 that causes such cigarette or its smoke to have a characterizing flavor.
23 2. For the purposes of this section, the phrase "characterizing
24 flavor" shall include but not be limited to any fruit, chocolate, vanil-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00907-04-9
S. 4496 2
1 la, honey, candy, mint, cocoa, dessert, alcoholic beverage, herb or
2 spice flavoring, but shall not include tobacco, menthol or clove.
3 In no event shall a cigarette or any component part thereof (including
4 but not limited to the tobacco, paper, roll or filter) be construed to
5 have a characterizing flavor based solely on the use of additives or
6 flavorings, or the provision of an ingredient list made available by any
7 means.
8 3. Any person other than a manufacturer who violates the provisions of
9 this section shall be subject to a fine of not more than one hundred
10 dollars for each pack of such cigarettes sold or offered for sale. A
11 manufacturer may be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed fifty thou-
12 sand dollars for each brand or style of that manufacturer's cigarettes
13 that is found to have been sold or offered for sale in violation of this
14 section on more than one occasion during any thirty day period.
15 Violations of this section shall be enforced in the same manner provided
16 in section thirteen hundred ninety-nine-ff of this article, except that
17 any person may submit a complaint to an enforcement officer that a
18 violation of this section has occurred.
19 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred fiftieth day after
20 it shall have become a law.
