A08808 Summary:

BILL NOA08808B
 
SAME ASSAME AS S06809-B
 
SPONSORBichotte
 
COSPNSRRosenthal L, Mosley, Simotas, Wright, Griffin, Jean-Pierre, Seawright, Dickens, Simon, Jaffee, Epstein, Galef, Dinowitz, Ortiz, Glick, Gottfried, Steck, Jacobson
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Add §1399-cc-1, Pub Health L
 
Prohibits the retail sale of flavored tobacco products and accessories and imposes a fine of not more than five hundred dollars for each infraction.
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A08808 Actions:

BILL NOA08808B
 
11/25/2019referred to health
01/08/2020referred to health
09/09/2020amend and recommit to health
09/09/2020print number 8808a
10/07/2020amend (t) and recommit to health
10/07/2020print number 8808b
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A08808 Committee Votes:

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A08808 Floor Votes:

There are no votes for this bill in this legislative session.
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A08808 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A8808B
 
SPONSOR: Bichotte
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the public health law, in relation to prohibiting the retail sale of flavored tobacco products and accessories   SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section one of the bill adds a new Section 1399-cc-1 to the Public Health Law to prohibit the sale or offer for retail sale in New York State of any tobacco product with a "characterizing flavor" or any accessory that imparts a "characterizing flavor" to a tobacco product. Violations would be punishable by a civil fine of not more than five hundred dollars. The bill would also prohibit enforcement agents, police officers, peace officers, or other law enforcement officers from stopping, questioning, searching, or arresting any person on grounds of or in relation to possession, consumption, or purchase of any flavored tobacco product, or for the purpose of inquiring or determining how or from what person or entity the person obtained a flavored tobacco product. Section two of the bill establishes the effective date.   JUSTIFICATION: According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, as cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year. The CDC also adds, "If smoking continues at the current rate among U.S. youth, 5.6 million of today's Americans younger than 18 years of age are expected to die prematurely from a smoking-related illness." Though federal law prohibits the sale of almost all flavored cigarettes, it does not prohibit the sale of menthol cigarettes, and does not restrict flavored tobacco products other than cigarettes. This inaction has permitted tobacco products to remain appealing to young people and adults alike, despite their devastating health impacts. People of color have been particularly targeted by tobacco companies pushing menthol cigarettes. For decades, these companies have spent millions of dollars on advertisements, sponsorships, and promotions targeted towards communities predominantly composed of people of color. In fact, research shows that areas with larger Black and Latinx popu- lations have more tobacco retailers, and retailers in those areas are more likely to display exterior tobacco advertisements. A 2013 study by researchers affiliated with Stanford University also found that Afri- can-American youth were three times more likely than others to recognize the Newport brand, a leading manufacturer of menthol cigarettes. Unfortunately, this predatory, intentional targeting has been success- ful. Today, 85% of African-American smokers use menthol cigarettes, which is nearly three times the rate of white smokers (29%). That's up from just 5% in the 1950s. The highest rates of menthol cigarette smok- ing in the U.S. are among African-American youth ages 12-17 (about 7 in 10, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids). And alarmingly, data shows that African-American and Latino menthol smokers successfully quit at a lower rate than non-menthol smokers in their same ethnic groups. This is a major reason why the NAACP has vocally supported banning the sale of menthol cigarettes for years. According to the Public Health Law Center, reports commissioned by the FDA have concluded that "removing menthol from all commercial tobacco products would benefit the public's health and save thousands of lives, 33 to 50 percent of which would be African American." The Center also notes that "at least half of all teen smokers use menthol tobacco products," and "menthol cigarettes are used at disproportionately higher rates by racial and ethnic minority smokers." Research also shows that the LGBTQ community is also significantly more likely to smoke menthol cigarettes, as more than 36% of LGBT smokers report primarily smoking menthols. When paired with other tobacco indus- try targeting, this has resulted in disproportionately high rates of smoking among LBGTQ individuals, particularly transgender individuals. This targeting has real-life health consequences for hundreds of thou- sands of New Yorkers. The New York State Department of Health notes that the use of tobacco products takes nearly 30,000 New Yorkers' lives per year and costs us $10.4 billion in health care expenses and billions more in lost workplace productivity. According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, more than 290 locali- ties across the country have restricted the sale of flavored tobacco products in some form, and at least 100 communities "restrict the sale of menthol cigarettes, in addition to other flavored tobacco products." Most notably, Massachusetts became the first state to enact a complete ban on the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes and flavored e-cigarettes, which took effect in June 2020. California followed suit by enacting similar legislation in August 2020. New York State government must do everything in its power to diminish the appeal of tobacco products and encourage smoking cessation, while ensuring that individual New Yorkers aren't subjected to increased, unnecessary interactions with law enforcement personnel. Importantly, this bill would not apply to the possession of such flavored tobacco products, and contains language specifically prohibiting law enforcement from stopping, questioning, searching, or arresting people based on their possession, consumption, or purchase of flavored tobacco products. New York took bold action to protect public health and reduce children's exposure to tobacco products by banning the sale of flavored vapor products in the FY 2020-21 Enacted Budget. While that was a landmark step, we must go further to discourage tobacco use and remedy the historical inequities and negative health impacts to communities of color and other populations caused by the tobacco industry. This bill would make New York a national leader in discouraging tobacco usage by prohibiting the retail sale of all flavored tobacco products and accessories, including menthol flavors.   LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2019 - 2020: A8808 2019 - 2020: A8808A   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: To be determined.   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
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A08808 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                         8808--B
 
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                    November 25, 2019
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by M. of A. BICHOTTE, L. ROSENTHAL, MOSLEY, SIMOTAS, WRIGHT,
          GRIFFIN, JEAN-PIERRE,  SEAWRIGHT,  DICKENS,  SIMON,  JAFFEE,  EPSTEIN,
          GALEF, DINOWITZ, ORTIZ, GLICK, GOTTFRIED, STECK, JACOBSON -- read once
          and  referred to the Committee on Health -- recommitted to the Commit-
          tee on Health in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 --  committee
          discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
          to  said  committee  -- again reported from said committee with amend-
          ments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
 
        AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation  to  prohibiting  the
          retail sale of flavored tobacco products and accessories
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding  a  new  section
     2  1399-cc-1 to read as follows:
     3    §  1399-cc-1. Retail sale of flavored tobacco products and accessories
     4  prohibited. 1. For the purposes of this section, the term  "characteriz-
     5  ing  flavor" shall mean a distinguishable taste or aroma, other than the
     6  taste or aroma of tobacco, imparted either prior to or  during  consump-
     7  tion  of  a  tobacco  product,  including  but not limited to, tastes or
     8  aromas relating to any fruit, chocolate, vanilla, honey,  candy,  cocoa,
     9  dessert, alcoholic beverage, mint, wintergreen, herb, spice, or menthol,
    10  or any concept flavor that imparts a taste or aroma that is distinguish-
    11  able  from  tobacco  flavor  but  may not relate to any particular known
    12  flavor.
    13    2.  No  tobacco  business,  firm,  partnership,  association,  limited
    14  liability  company,  corporation,  or  other entity licensed pursuant to
    15  article twenty of the tax law, or employee of such entities  shall  sell
    16  or  offer  for retail sale tobacco products with a characterizing flavor
    17  or accessories that impart a characterizing flavor to a tobacco  product
    18  in this state.
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13933-08-0

        A. 8808--B                          2
 
     1    3.  Any  tobacco  business,  firm,  partnership,  association, limited
     2  liability company, corporation, or other entity   licensed  pursuant  to
     3  article  twenty  of  the  tax  law  that violates the provisions of this
     4  section shall be subject to a civil fine of not more than  five  hundred
     5  dollars.   Complaints alleging violations of this section may be submit-
     6  ted to personnel designated pursuant to section thirteen  hundred  nine-
     7  ty-nine-ff of this article, except that such complaints may be submitted
     8  by any person.
     9    4.  Notwithstanding  any  law  to  the contrary, no enforcement agent,
    10  police officer, peace officer or other law enforcement officer may stop,
    11  question, search or arrest any person: (a) on grounds of or in  relation
    12  to  possession,  consumption  or purchase of any product subject to this
    13  section; or (b) for the purpose of inquiring or determining how or  from
    14  what  person  or  entity the person obtained any product subject to this
    15  section.
    16    § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
    17  have  become  a  law.    Effective  immediately, the addition, amendment
    18  and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation
    19  of this act on  its  effective  date  are  authorized  to  be  made  and
    20  completed on or before such effective date.
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