BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 882
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 4, 2010

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                    SB 882 (Corbett) - As Amended:  June 17, 2010 

          Policy Committee:                              Governmental  
          Organization Vote:                            21 - 0 

          Urgency:     Yes                  State Mandated Local Program:  
          Yes    Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill prohibits the sale or distribution on electronic  
          cigarettes to a minor less than 18 years of age, and establishes  
          infractions for violating this prohibition. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Potential minor non-reimbursable local costs for investigation  
          and prosecution of violations, offset to a degree by fine  
          revenue.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . This bill seeks to make the sale of electronic  
            cigarettes to minors illegal. According to the author, a study  
            published by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute  
            found that teens were more likely to be influenced to smoke by  
            cigarette marketing than by peer pressure.  The author states  
            that a similar report published by the Journal of the American  
            Medical Association discovered that approximately one-third of  
            underage experimentation with smoking was attributable to  
            tobacco company marketing efforts.

            Electronic cigarettes are unregulated by state and federal  
            law.  The author claims that because the producers of  
            electronic cigarettes, many of which are predominantly  
            foreign-based companies, have not applied for approval from  
            the Food and Drug Administration, some retailers have taken  
            the opportunity to market and sell these products to adults  
            and minors, alike, through shopping mall kiosks.









                                                                  SB 882
                                                                  Page  2

           2)Electronic Cigarettes  .  The most recent innovation in  
            marketing tobacco products to the public is electronic  
            cigarettes.  Electronic cigarettes are a tobacco substitute  
            marketed as a healthy and smokeless alternative to traditional  
            cigarettes.  These devices are battery operated, rechargeable  
            drug delivery devices that look similar to cigarettes and  
            allow the user to inhale a smokeless vapor that often contains  
            nicotine.  

           3)Related Legislation  . In 2009, SB 400 (Corbett) would have  
            amended the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement (STAKE)  
            Act to include electronic cigarettes in its definition of  
            tobacco products and prohibit the sale of those devices to  
            minors.  That bill was vetoed by the governor.  In his veto  
            message, the governor objected to the fact that the bill would  
            have declared the devices a federally regulated drug.  In his  
            veto message he wrote, "I cannot sign a measure that declares  
            them a federally regulated drug when the matter is currently  
            being decided through pending litigation."  This bill does not  
            appear to address the governor's stated concern.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081